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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
/ u, }5 y: [5 [9 }7 n7 XFrom Today's Edmonton Journal7 T0 W3 v8 U5 _0 K6 C* P
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 1 A# } l' `& t' }$ C5 m
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 1 w3 s! q5 O0 P& w
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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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& ^. _9 I6 [6 t8 V- ~Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 4 C# I3 F3 `( a( x, ]
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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. + N3 ^$ K9 o' R$ t0 r; ?
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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. . o s( p$ x2 L
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 0 r/ k& D, j$ q. @8 U! j( p4 U- B
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 3 ~% W! D& \! e4 A. l7 E
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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 c' O3 A6 H/ N8 v/ U
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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. & h2 y7 |$ q# a9 H2 H8 |
% \: O. M/ m* i) EStatistics 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. 4 t. u" Z1 E/ s8 U% m
/ ^1 n! H/ s6 S; `) _( V“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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4 `- {# i8 @! ]1 ~. \; f" G. OSumner 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. }( A& d6 V1 ~3 y# J" ?
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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% } {5 c4 G2 }" Y4 [% K5 `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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