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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
1 t0 D1 e/ ~( b2 z. `$ ~+ TFrom Today's Edmonton Journal% R, f: |6 |" B3 B" n8 O
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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+ |5 z4 J& r! w0 m! T" L% M6 X8 @From 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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, c: B0 l6 J( p% I2 Y- ZOnly 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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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 0 x& A+ r+ [3 e" ?3 y1 s
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. / _6 M/ d" l6 E# j
0 E, j4 _" Q1 IIt 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. 6 W# d# c5 k- Z) U7 G1 q
- {7 _ l# g6 s6 ]/ C7 D& X: {“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 6 A/ ^: W7 r& T9 }6 o- p, B
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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B+ [% x& C- Q ]“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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) K; [: K7 x7 CBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. - D; v4 z1 @6 c+ ` p# {
" c- L6 Y" _3 ?& h4 @( gStatistics 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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That 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. # G" s5 g8 K( Y; S0 U
! K% d+ s9 d1 Z# D3 b1 I( _- z: hSumner 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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& X' `: k4 d0 |0 f0 v' t; Z3 N“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 6 u, p3 H0 l) {
6 R! B) I7 z( v4 @1 D, tAs 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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