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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
5 e3 y; p4 b }1 S/ }7 ~; eFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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9 w0 y% w1 d$ ]0 j) \ c9 FMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 2 @0 K# G5 f! V. Q4 F3 v9 @
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ; A; Z, Z/ N; Z8 k) v6 O" B8 E2 @* `
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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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1 l* X$ L1 j# c; T, uOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. * M& y6 k" z- s/ o. D& i2 v
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 3 u5 j, r$ ?4 }& s% X1 X* O
, X p! b% V2 }, _; a2 `It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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9 p j6 o& ~; t5 B' Z6 ~8 `4 h2 {6 {! lIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 8 z$ m. X5 I$ [. \0 s v# z$ ~
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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. 5 k2 N) @5 ^9 H& }' _
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 6 f4 f/ J0 ]3 |8 \4 j8 P
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 4 @; C" d3 ~+ R
. W' `& M7 h* o* R6 q0 t“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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" R) L- z+ t0 s, X4 k2 Z. g. g& |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. 4 N- Q- k9 m* H8 D- A* d
, `% [9 }( n. yStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. * d& I3 Y' n- W
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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. : _ S0 a2 Y- |6 B
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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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0 W/ z! r' `9 X. }; O“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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