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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
7 f1 e! M- \- t2 i3 j% m9 _: LFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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0 q: e( E. d. K D% y: m1 l$ t. XMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ' a$ B* Z4 x3 G$ F
' \0 `8 v0 f7 l1 _5 E$ u3 DFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. + ?0 ]2 U# r* z' {! O# ?
b; D* m+ o& p0 H) zThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. ' `3 `; o* `0 a; W
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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. 7 X# k1 D+ Q4 ]" R
' n1 c4 H& L& g/ m+ g5 @! jBetween 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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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ! K" S8 B4 v& H4 W# H" ]
) U; ~8 I. s: m2 W# U; [7 bATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 2 O: A) M; z5 j
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 6 p' O1 h* C$ K3 J$ d1 G
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. + B! [, \, ?0 ~2 a. P# p2 M
5 C: V) [+ A7 U# ?“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.” 9 r% f- [; p7 L7 O0 l9 _3 u: x! H. l
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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. - K! F- I4 ^8 ^+ z9 \4 I
* w5 n8 U. w4 Q5 TStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. * R, M' {2 Q( u% S$ g2 a3 X
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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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1 U, U1 ?5 a2 G“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. ( `$ t7 Y" }" b
8 H$ E+ w& B* HSumner 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. & P$ n3 M& t. c. c- Y( `
6 ?& M" B+ C* g) p9 \2 p# C4 N5 h“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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