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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
) ?! [# c, `, Y5 jFrom Today's Edmonton Journal h. y4 Y1 d* B% ~- R
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. & {7 M6 A3 } M
) U1 {' g* _2 uThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. % F6 y; m% M5 ]% J' x W# p- Q
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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. 3 Y5 Z' r5 _1 K
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. - S) n C1 C! W' u# y1 }
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 3 x) o, b% O- A; B. v9 |% T1 i% L
% E- a6 r- k" a& e+ {7 c; LIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. * ] |7 ^ Y" ]8 H! h) e6 j
9 d- q" M, i4 P+ j- gATB 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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; l0 S- {5 t( w6 ?“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
# `* A9 A- {2 h& S# A“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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- U5 q* T2 v$ e3 ^, d& `0 N" W- n“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.
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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. # X* [: [! F0 Q+ q" D+ Q1 p3 A
2 K1 |2 U- \! E4 B' D- J" SThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ( h; U' R3 M- J
9 e/ K$ Y( I3 R/ t“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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Sumner 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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C2 D' |6 ~& J# z9 Z# g6 B. _. ^“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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