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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
% G2 l& ?0 @4 u; p% |- RFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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; n: c2 h5 I8 d( d0 BMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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, X4 @) X A! q. H6 D, f; D5 R8 _From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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5 T( W! B/ F6 H: j! @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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+ q2 C$ L1 U- _( J$ F1 vOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. ; E8 E* ?/ R: |5 c
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 1 u8 e; y: L8 W, {" `! V
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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+ e( O- I* d6 D5 x3 N' a: gIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 1 U _* d! ^/ ?* T* x
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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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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. # V& J" O% |9 @. J2 ^5 X
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 3 x+ v7 P# q- \8 J/ D0 R
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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.”
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& ?. K7 t$ k& x _! ?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. 4 E6 j. H( C) d1 t7 S$ H
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. T* A2 Z8 u, G9 W5 k3 N0 p
( \5 h1 m9 X7 Z; b. r) M“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. + R# R! v0 h0 c+ A o
# a/ E) C! _% Q* nSumner 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. 3 U5 r l( E1 @
+ z L& j/ \" r: x( ^4 W“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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