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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
* R; p) P/ ]- }6 z+ s. k$ lFrom Today's Edmonton Journal" N1 l, B7 [: y. j: k0 q' W; C. _! M
4 y2 N4 V; n4 CMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ; g2 i( A# Z, B6 g3 N8 N
( i" Y0 b6 X% zFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 4 i( i# [# o& D$ f, [/ U1 Q$ q
y: E( L& @1 H) ~/ [. r' C+ L kThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. ( s8 N! _4 S3 H9 z% E9 z0 [! S, M
9 v8 s& ^1 v! I& f# r, b+ yOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 6 C4 p# |: J8 m
W' m, G+ d7 \2 n) e1 GBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ! I) u* x- X6 o Y/ [5 q2 J
: C$ [& G& X) R. k* a; `It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. % H0 X0 L6 v$ E, ]. O; S* R5 M$ x ?
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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# Q( E4 ~! n) l3 e+ H- f* @ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. : P1 j5 P+ t- Z+ ~* x
3 O2 K( `; d/ P1 k0 b1 N“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ' N' k. ^. R" I! d: p
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 1 Z; g/ ^9 b$ y1 F2 l
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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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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. S# Z4 O" x, d/ E3 \) [9 V
$ i0 U7 Q3 t6 ]3 h* o& F3 g! n xStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 7 n7 f& g/ K) r9 c7 G9 E9 D* t) W
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ) w* a2 q: }- @* o
; k' o6 }( d; r3 _7 f“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. / ]; E2 f+ P, Q
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Sumner 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. ( x1 n# }& z" I; @ ]2 t# M1 y
3 @; [5 G# \3 e7 _& Z9 h“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 8 D8 O/ `4 H2 S! O$ P! @
1 m. U1 e0 e' v+ Y: eAs 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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