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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
( s7 [ X A& g$ PFrom Today's Edmonton Journal5 W6 f: L T" ~8 F
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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& |1 j, K9 x7 W1 z8 g- \! z o- g; f' J+ F0 aFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ' {; T( r3 @0 r, F
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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. ' @+ v$ o# B) O |. E
7 C' y7 U8 o( H" r- |0 h: D7 QOnly 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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* Y0 I5 p$ w% C( U/ G# B/ vBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 4 s' c. b& q' f9 F
; ~. z& {7 X$ m6 vIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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5 P3 M* f7 K$ E: xATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 6 i, s, b2 b. \7 X5 ]. F. n
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
( |8 q8 J: Z- z7 `“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.”
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; h0 h5 e) z, K6 k0 PBut 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.
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ! }- `9 r9 r# Y) Y, ]) u! f, ]8 r
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 9 v T: J# _6 i1 o- j) W- U4 T' I
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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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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. " z. U0 ]' a+ G8 d9 W# P$ V
0 X) ~; Z* {! P+ n& b/ eAs 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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