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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
0 V; t% d! r" O% g( r) H7 dFrom Today's Edmonton Journal% v7 ~3 h& A0 U+ Y! f1 P$ o) ?
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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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.
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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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# S/ ~, o- ~! OBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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. a; ?! x+ f( p# J. F; n: M4 z% v0 LIt 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 t, t+ M0 E, x9 b6 g8 f
0 V( t9 S) M8 q" {0 _; x |ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. : Q1 c! o1 U2 r2 L; f" a5 x
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
( _' ]. n& r e6 |4 D“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.” ( {6 |( e; G9 `* c* R
0 K! O0 r3 O( h0 B9 b9 wBut 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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3 D" K9 z+ ~* r1 H: a, p# QStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 8 |0 i0 |! @+ o- P' o7 @* |
5 b* G' |( L6 o5 {+ b6 @1 \. p8 BThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ! F* Y, ~ f# X/ m3 Z1 E9 L+ M
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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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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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i9 E+ F7 y% E% \( C5 U- S“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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4 y% f5 H. t1 h) v, pAs 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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