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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
! }0 r* ], ?) |( G; u. IFrom Today's Edmonton Journal0 h& D2 |$ t1 R& d2 h" i
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. + F7 ~3 K# i" [7 m8 T# _
) }. r' J9 Q# I( V2 ]! p- V6 J rFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. & r& w3 d+ u! ]5 F, e
4 @6 s; j! S$ [6 P7 }0 AThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. - D k; J) `0 b$ w6 @+ ?/ A
/ x; l' S: z% `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. }% S( W: A. z1 I5 F
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 0 E/ d4 [9 o x- ^, r5 _3 Y! B, u
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. / o# F( ~0 n8 u
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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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7 C1 F& U' u0 x0 Q, s6 X {“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 3 ]/ d' c) ?& B1 O8 x2 A: }
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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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.” # |# X! ^ Y+ a4 b
2 g4 C2 \, D) w: D, [7 S; o6 xBut 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. " V; @; B4 K* `
# E, _, P+ N$ X, S# MThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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& N# P# f; i( t" s“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. ' T% q" l8 x6 I5 Q% V
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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. % e8 k# I$ q i% O
3 d: j8 O! ^/ l4 a“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ' x9 S3 i p- G. \( S
, Z' k% K: P( X# ], j- p+ j' }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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