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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses {$ P! M, T7 E/ ?6 |
From Today's Edmonton Journal( c5 e- \& V! @4 _; R2 H- B/ p" i
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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- t' M% B# _; `2 }+ g/ S( dFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ) x, ?9 z F2 I1 b2 I5 s
+ e ^2 F w2 y, q7 h8 _That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta.
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* O/ P- h+ w! `* f7 fOnly 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) r( O& i9 W' v$ @7 |
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Between 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. R& A8 e% `3 P1 c. a
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It 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. ) w/ R: z; _; {, E0 A* ]+ w: t/ U6 q( h
, W3 |; C4 Y' o“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 9 ]+ w8 w0 \# {8 b
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. : ]$ G, n: e4 F7 L
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“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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% l$ t8 s/ ^6 k- |0 n9 DBut 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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Statistics 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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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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2 }/ G+ x; i+ R2 }5 h$ Q8 W* e“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 1 e, { J a1 Q
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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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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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As 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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