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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
( C# l! H9 s- @- CFrom Today's Edmonton Journal5 o& ^, [! I# ~
. b( e& L5 |9 P4 v# EMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 9 \+ W9 K! K) l/ Q) Z
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. , K- ]/ }; g" e0 i
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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.
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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. 5 a( _5 _# g \' f4 _& Z
. ]! S8 \" f/ Y" PBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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' T# o. `8 c6 a8 t& WIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. / }: M. T$ R- D% G
: U; J- T' U- @$ B1 {2 m# W& |It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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9 ?6 ]. O, H' u. m+ k4 TATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. ) v; L+ Z0 G- H
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
9 ] N4 p2 \" o“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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) I! T7 g2 U; S0 ?“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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' D* \2 m# B, dBut 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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: T' m$ ^" a9 X- P: HStatistics 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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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.
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: A/ E' I# X5 h7 P2 x& 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.
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6 v2 i5 Y% d2 ?" P' q. G# t“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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' F4 ], E6 {* T4 X! p5 \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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