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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses3 }8 ~3 d! f: @5 \1 ]% L& R& B
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ) S$ S6 y) H3 Y$ f& T+ F
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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1 e5 P" r6 P: }% X, @That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 0 J5 E$ Z g9 w" c8 ?
/ R1 u, k/ J* K* r! COnly 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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0 o' F( {# k1 {7 S& K LBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. : b& L* \) l4 k. u- K% `
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ) C2 t" S, L m5 c6 H i
; A& z+ ?9 b i$ ~- ]) _1 UIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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; W8 N! q' j' s# j' oATB 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. : z& `; X& _# l8 [! X
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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+ p/ C. I4 k/ G5 L“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.” * _8 T _2 H+ k; z3 p1 Z0 v# g
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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. , k B- ]3 a+ u! X+ v% {) j2 @( r
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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.
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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 |; a8 d0 A1 t" g# U5 h
1 [% Q6 p, W4 P: ^7 |“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 5 c1 C# @- ?+ M2 y$ W
- X5 U5 k3 G9 L/ tSumner 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. ! P9 |2 W9 X D
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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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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