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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses# U! ~4 {# _. E2 Y; K
From Today's Edmonton Journal0 K& v& x, ]" ~2 p0 Y8 S
9 Q' U7 O8 l _ oMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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! J1 ^6 o1 v4 @# o g+ w4 s: |From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 2 Y+ M H) ~$ K1 M3 K
% R: g) @4 O2 i0 N/ f: R4 Z4 |( 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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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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& W) E% t, \" B3 SIt 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. 3 e5 _3 T C4 M, O4 P& r" {
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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. " t: H0 ^) d7 x% b* b4 u
, h, I" `5 P+ s* ~( V% r1 @. B+ i5 q“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 3 @8 i; s) _5 l9 t
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ! L& W" h* b* a
" }0 z- n2 a5 ]' I, m, x2 ]“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. : i0 V( p7 x+ S0 M; w5 X* I3 r# z
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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. - K& f% D+ F: l: x6 v- Y
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 0 N) `: I& O& ^/ o3 T
" v* Q7 g- c) l# ?9 _9 C2 \“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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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.
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+ g w, M0 e1 E! Y+ n“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 1 @5 q9 M* H: h6 O8 T8 J, B( o% c
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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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