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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
7 l6 |6 t. T( }4 ?2 d+ DFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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# y, @0 O$ H- O7 [: \8 FMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 1 A9 f$ S1 U9 W8 c0 D7 ^# P* `
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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% A- W( Z8 I: v4 I& j! zThat 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.
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% `0 U! ^( T5 t7 G2 F( \2 n$ }Between 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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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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8 r# }, A0 F: C* f3 N; `% aATB 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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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. , b2 O9 ~5 @; p5 S
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ) G9 J, n, I' t% o" z1 j
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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.” 2 R" h1 a$ y- a M% R# \1 Q
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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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- D% g( z$ `# W5 B4 e1 sThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. , G% Y# U# _) D, D( i! H3 v
$ e4 ?& H6 v& w“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 3 A. v% Y3 d) N, W& j
' D1 o2 E6 x5 R; |6 f, SSumner 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. 6 ^+ P6 i: |8 r F% J) y, C6 z+ H6 @
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. " L" L- T1 _1 a
8 M( b( c5 o# f8 OAs 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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