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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
_+ r: `7 @( D0 m8 K! fFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ! N& w) B2 g# s6 l$ }" L
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 1 ^( [* W4 e+ M" N! J0 L
8 G6 V* J% K4 q) o' VOnly 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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m( _4 b' z$ u. s. \. KBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ( }$ Q; Q P* Y9 a5 r
# W; J" z5 h& ~5 ~6 M: ~It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ; i" Y( h: ?. Y) Q: [0 B( I
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. * n+ W- o; N$ i) I/ V& O4 W
. U& t) _6 F4 u; S& cATB 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. - T1 g D4 g) i$ {' G. ]8 @' u
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. . O0 Q6 n& i0 z. z3 w
# z) \6 p+ X( `, N( p“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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8 r9 B. _! I8 R4 z" \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. 3 q2 G7 @, M+ n5 S- K2 i
. C* Q9 o. {! R0 z6 zStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 5 n4 i: l" @% i' d- S: A& i8 d6 f
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ( S, B: P+ t3 q v. {
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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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( @; P$ H& e# Y+ P( zSumner 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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. V+ T. a( R5 j! c“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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( W1 r% H; a, ]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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