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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
. `: s9 r f* V7 B; AFrom Today's Edmonton Journal1 O5 f* Y1 J) `, X; F# [2 e) _
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. * N% K' i$ W& j" N# V5 f
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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+ W) y- A. w$ RThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 3 x ]2 |# q6 N' Z& k/ R; K# W
& o# _9 e" S( h- B, U% rOnly 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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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 7 L6 I8 d' T( {1 x
: f7 g6 ?* A9 P5 HIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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" A3 v9 R W* W7 q" w% j. xIt 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. ( D0 t7 B" R v* q! w8 R V
0 o& t. B, O" v6 B: j: D8 R“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
) C f) H/ f1 h$ \! E6 \“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ( }; B' O9 g* V; ~
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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.
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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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! I% E/ l" b: @4 J6 |# jThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 5 \' u! ^# |( @
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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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) |5 t( w( p! `# H4 Q. 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.
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. N( e" `% E' A“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 5 K" s. }- y2 X) s3 L
3 S& e# `$ z# {( L m+ c( N- ~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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