 鲜花( 13)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
! {* n6 h, o& X( _/ Z \( P# FFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
& Y$ n1 X. S5 D# Y0 Y% `7 y1 D
9 `! h* j) {- C7 M2 m5 l6 r, {6 ?% aMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
8 \( V S, u; L$ }
6 I6 f7 X% x# M. MFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. & C; J" {0 O0 N5 D
9 c( b0 f" B- X+ eThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta.
2 o) \5 [; v% t, R7 d q: d5 L2 r" G/ h! f9 T" {
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.
8 G8 E# ]! g: q! ~, e; L2 d* h( |
- }6 M! i/ K2 S L! [3 y# w9 HBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
+ ~( C& ~7 f$ y5 K1 G
0 ^" U9 h, h1 B% _" JIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. , U6 L" _4 b0 k* `8 c# g2 w
$ A# A- }- ]8 N& n# b& \It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
! A4 w, y8 V; S" P3 ]! v
; a# ^2 ^6 |2 P) \6 y' |ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region.
# @9 ^7 h7 O4 S
8 D' D; G" `! O1 R3 o“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. # m) j7 e" r3 n: n
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
7 d9 Y( b$ U5 T1 P- k
9 ~' |& \! F$ n6 }5 c“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.”
( k. o' F* Y6 l) ^- E) j7 }7 O4 p: X- [) G9 K/ L
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.
. b4 N7 W8 j6 t& z: U
) e, ?/ O! n/ G# H6 `. [# tStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. $ m# W9 I5 Q+ W
6 w) ]* [' F& P- ~That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
- V4 S4 V# d* W- d- b; O3 `
/ P3 K! G \1 c. [4 `# E“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 4 u7 b- n7 K- y9 S% C, M
% @& r* @3 k7 n/ A
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.
% n) t2 h, Z9 X S: |* {! u# \9 D! t
“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ( V$ D9 y+ F i8 x
+ g/ m- y$ A. S' Q& lAs of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
|