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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
7 V3 j3 M+ ~) IFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. . `- |' n! |7 w% B* c i, W' A: {- Z
4 [9 S7 @: u$ G/ GFrom 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. 1 |6 j2 W' L1 B- G
, K8 g- O# J+ T5 `" rBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. $ ~: o% {5 d3 L7 N6 S: J
3 R2 i2 f: U. u+ x! b& G2 B0 FIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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) p4 w8 u8 Q P. L8 h( y) s/ s( IIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ( N2 c# h: S O; g) U" i
; Y3 y; P8 @6 o3 pATB 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.
" ~, h, N1 P: V8 u3 J% X+ `“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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* ]8 f- H9 C6 Y) u“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.” 3 F1 O: A- y8 v& }$ _
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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. ; c( b9 b; T& }/ n
7 N* |+ d" D6 g. G# C6 dStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. ! u, S' C$ b6 O4 J
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 3 v) V) C; U) ?7 T* e4 j
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 6 ?. A$ T6 a: ]( C4 f, Y. x
* m% R* c( R+ X' h$ k6 h) y; fSumner 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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0 V2 ~8 |- [* B6 O) q4 J5 X“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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- }2 a/ l, d* \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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