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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
5 c* C" s5 k- y+ O, q: w; ]From Today's Edmonton Journal
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7 a8 y9 m( I8 X- n# Y) vMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. . S# Y- t- L& {1 p
5 j8 o* x4 B }# j" b- R% V* b+ fFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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' L! x- D% Q5 R7 t$ N+ Z' ~That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. / ]5 F `, H0 {5 c6 e
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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. / A/ j# N2 E0 X0 U
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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3 E8 [1 m r. l" |7 ]9 A& DIt 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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ATB 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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# H, E! y/ ?/ {) ~; z2 K( G1 r% l“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. & y( N! x+ R, q: f& p2 L( S- x
“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.” 3 P/ N. T" p# Q2 Q
( e- X/ Y2 ^9 A% Q+ S3 ~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. & f% \8 e. J6 k! p* |
% p' d1 q( H$ nStatistics 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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. }7 X7 }5 B8 L" `8 b- t6 s/ jThat 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.
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" A7 Z+ M' y( l9 L( e! F* `) USumner 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. 8 c# l1 ?$ r- g
/ H# d; Z1 d8 ?: s( C“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. + e- I! R2 N- E
( G# K& z5 p4 D5 c% IAs 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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