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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses8 h. r; S1 @5 L+ f; R
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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5 X7 d. h2 @: i; q5 o; vFrom 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. 3 o5 {" Y V7 J
. ~; }' U0 R. B1 r+ ]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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- }& V: A8 K1 e% J0 T; dBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. + _2 [! L2 u' ]* U: j
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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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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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: S3 H1 d6 d! u) n“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. : I3 d, i" W8 V0 A
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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; T' b! A/ H7 T/ i/ X“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. 7 g1 c }$ P/ p- u& U3 \
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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. / v9 F8 X/ ?% t8 ]6 F1 K
2 H! L8 m2 S2 }4 g8 l0 [" zThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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) m) p6 m/ k, s9 D$ J z“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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( E6 H# m k: j/ s$ KSumner 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.
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5 d9 Q, b/ N2 @* h7 @ T; ^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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