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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
7 @ N9 I) c6 j/ g2 T4 IFrom Today's Edmonton Journal9 {" m& v4 E/ s/ h) g3 S6 q- }5 a; J. n
* b3 o8 n" r8 I+ a- B4 VMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. C" D- U' h3 e2 o- B+ l6 [
- p" L; L" v# w9 }1 c& ^ NOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 5 n2 h$ C' A2 r+ G$ e: c: v; R
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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: y* D" R+ k2 q5 J9 D; n R# y$ u0 WIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ( Y2 a' s# f& h0 D
+ ?5 Y* A/ _: u/ [It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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( E9 t; {# ~: l/ bATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. ! @: Y9 f' I* e+ j
9 p. C$ i' a1 Y; ^( ~; Y“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. - v9 c" ], k. Q7 S! ~; b/ J
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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! a! |6 t/ i+ P+ F' }“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.” . C7 \# k% ?& {1 j) P
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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. 6 p( C6 @% S! Y o
! A9 F- f$ ~& yStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. . B, ^6 a( w# k! o' d: A$ H( J
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 6 C" H9 D9 D' T9 n l' m5 C
9 M, ]+ A9 `; y# p/ D! G% J“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. - [4 B! [ x% N3 u& y, ~" W: s
3 }: e# `7 }2 W3 ?; WSumner 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. ! n3 O. K* n9 Q7 Y6 @' s* k" k6 t4 y
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 1 t$ s6 ?+ d) K
' F2 j! v/ G3 fAs 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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