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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses3 ~. U/ _! V. L7 G' t
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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) G2 P& L! _" s% GMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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8 B: l' \+ g% ]$ j& wFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 5 m& Q3 q8 k5 [4 r/ r8 ?7 w0 |
% R6 D; j" z, }8 c; b* d: q+ S+ WThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. - z7 r7 e X2 h5 k/ B4 [
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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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) O! K* S: p, q* T5 t" ^! b# oBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. % {% v+ N6 z; H7 v) f0 x( l
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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: t7 S! V' R, _4 A5 L6 tIt 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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2 ^& ?9 g$ G0 l+ S* i; y“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
: L. x" }4 j7 ^5 J5 {2 ?+ b* u* c“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.”
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* e7 J3 Y' [" FBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. # o X# o) a3 p" x; H, K
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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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' Y; R- c. j( ~That 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. 8 q$ g0 {8 i) m! P
! ^7 f" V% y# |& PSumner 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. - D( D" p& u0 e6 ~% D+ e
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ' {( S1 I0 k* y0 i. k
+ k( Z( ~0 U9 h5 l C* _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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