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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
3 i* s" u9 Y, k- CFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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7 p/ n+ z/ Y0 a O9 dMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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# b6 l# U% K* _* c, }3 YFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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9 k: P( t4 C; y5 Z aThat 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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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.
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. - c' p2 C4 C8 [/ C5 `( v
+ f, A3 o" E# t$ J& aIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. : d* U) t0 u& Y& F$ x
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. d8 j9 g% o/ ^) T$ m- |6 d0 i
% R* g/ ^4 U6 i) j dATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 1 v6 N; u# }; \6 P
2 W8 Y+ m2 O/ F* F n“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
# W; ?: I) L! g, \7 E b“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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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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' }2 T( f5 _ o, A( BBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. # T8 r! l+ \! B, j" \/ ]0 P
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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. % W, k2 t1 v5 z
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 1 [4 O) e8 [. D/ \' X! t
}; E8 y9 M) C( L1 F' p“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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: }3 Z4 W8 b2 ?' N7 a: w" `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. * B I3 @/ g( U/ x
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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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