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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
4 A1 N7 C2 V+ o7 CFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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0 a+ R& C- t6 Z( KMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. . D6 `) p, [+ E' c% S. f% X
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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( L) N- d: R/ e1 P5 CThat 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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" ]3 R: t, q7 Q, q7 t iBetween 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. 4 l7 { f# O' s* ^
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. s0 v h4 Q8 m+ K( v9 ^4 V1 Z
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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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% {$ E" X2 ]/ B* j“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. , [( ]6 j4 G# V3 ~; P; u+ c
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ) p" \+ v; L3 a! l
" Z3 I7 r J% l9 Y8 Y1 u6 o“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.” " s# C2 E4 [! b- K
5 s* W; g6 I S. UBut 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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5 I. p8 }2 H& q) ~) JStatistics 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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, d) w: }3 H# H3 A& f7 A: s“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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v" |$ C( Z2 x2 ^ e& Y0 FSumner 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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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. : o7 s! h; o |" L
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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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