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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
. ~' c) J" L8 F$ c& iFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ( ?- X8 [* y3 l' v+ O# f
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ( M& v8 I" ^; W& Y7 t8 y; i& A
4 A" w. H0 _. ?! K% u( RThat 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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' g: E, `/ o( Z3 J# {Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. k5 e( E# J! o4 R3 U6 i
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. * \+ l P- l- U
0 N: x* f$ ^/ [( eIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 8 j7 } j4 u9 O/ T; G
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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. $ D$ O) ]. S, E% a1 @# L. S/ x& N1 P& j
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 4 j6 D8 n: m3 [, g' T
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. . c/ {5 g& l, H! U
- ^4 }9 l. X/ T0 \3 G. N1 E+ h“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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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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# t# K/ U6 x8 A9 g \+ t% GThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. z* }; f6 I# o* ~. X+ L
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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, M& N; t( T8 O7 f. @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. & R% ? j" Z: }1 P& C4 `7 X/ F+ f1 J
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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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