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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses# f W' H! P9 H |
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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% Z8 E7 R" x' s- iMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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5 i. C& K: [" ], q2 R9 uFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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5 Z5 K/ m% S* y4 Y1 {That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. , t [3 A H/ Z
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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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2 `8 L! g; I+ N. u# y: DBetween 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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. e! W9 h; ?( @$ tIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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) C( y0 A5 R! L% ?/ }& LATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. ( k( u" U' X/ l3 _. F( z9 S9 O
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 1 ]- _/ l: u" o) S4 L
“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.” % N7 b. c# \ y E
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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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: A, T3 @1 n5 I' n! ]8 NThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. + G M1 o5 W- G$ K' n5 }
" S# S" z, D/ l; B“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 5 e9 z8 _8 R4 m$ D) H' }1 {
/ R& `2 n$ X' @8 USumner 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. 6 ?, I/ h% ^1 L3 F7 o
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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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