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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses1 Y- R0 E/ W; d# O
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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/ @5 D4 z0 B- W/ f1 _! B% v9 RMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. : a, I+ k$ n! a$ s( r8 v; g
3 q# P3 s; `$ L$ Z+ |! KFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. " m0 w `3 D) X. A. a2 A' |; `7 K
t7 N' E, C* S N1 \- BThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. H" u$ A! |0 q* |6 q: X
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Only 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 0 _( ^! G; n: U6 n% [/ q
; e" f2 I# p0 n5 {8 q0 U/ u+ P% fBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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) O n( L! y( K, Y0 ]4 z; RIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. ' N9 V" n5 b( p% {2 |
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. : ^0 e! W. n: J. ]
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 9 `: Y! s+ C# A7 y2 U$ s# }" j, D
2 W2 w& P ]# k& f“During the mid-decade, unsustainably strong job prospects drove migrants to Alberta from all corners of the country, although this trend reversed course quickly during the recession.”
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But he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely.
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8 \( x$ s S' U- _% s* e3 rStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million.
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, `2 q: Q5 m7 i4 \; [( S. rThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 5 x; d' v* m# r, K9 Z; M
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Sumner said the province’s strong natural increase was partly due to its population having the lowest median age at 35.8, compared to the national average of 39.7.
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1 D' |- V8 P8 P9 C3 f' T+ e“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 1 E1 _1 U: S7 h, k" B' ^
% ^. R2 }* Y- P2 B! qAs of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
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