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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
: x' u% v: q1 h* bFrom Today's Edmonton Journal6 {, b) K1 i4 W
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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R5 u+ O, X, {From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 1 P" A( q- y2 o! r! z/ {
) ?0 W b2 l& y! @% }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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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. % s3 }9 E' X8 S' P- ~% C" N
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ( O! J+ P8 J8 n( j: w; o
4 O0 s2 _; V8 i t7 B: Y# O. lIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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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.
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ) q" S& Z) S, q3 T& T
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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x& w, p$ n$ ]5 b2 I$ N! b1 q“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.” 1 N4 S, ]7 K i/ Q3 j
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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. , c8 P. _- K1 ]/ u* {5 G+ F1 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.
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0 O% V0 g3 E2 S& CThat 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.
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. m Z9 q, J, g# b7 }& Y) ISumner 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. # a! [- A' l# g* d5 B; U, x
1 @9 L) V' {! h* h! e' N6 R4 W“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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