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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
( ~& Z1 s2 w/ S4 E+ jFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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" Z8 S- N+ t8 m" c) _Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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, [1 b' s7 T4 q1 Y0 X. \From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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0 O, O7 j& A; ]+ }% A H' \; v2 tThat 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. ! W! M2 K8 Z2 ]
; v& a' E2 |" {$ RBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It 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.
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+ Q2 k- }* o/ d( ZATB 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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0 m/ m4 R- J+ n# q6 b8 j“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. * O: ~5 W/ p6 x& E2 C9 j \2 b
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. # w: X9 _8 d( h. N0 h) I: `. ~ c d
- [) G, C. T9 S$ w- R“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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8 H0 U* p+ p8 O1 W8 TStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. $ p j* E' i, Y7 {# E# I
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 0 ^6 s; Y4 r. l- `* u- `# V! I1 ^
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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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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. # k3 t/ ]. a9 A4 _2 n
4 i- m* }4 V$ [2 F; s/ R" lAs 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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