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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
" ?* R2 I5 k5 b4 j3 K1 M" kFrom Today's Edmonton Journal6 n: D& R9 p2 k4 Q( C/ y+ V, ~
8 g- b/ W" G1 Y0 I3 q: F1 KMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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" b, y) \" e5 W; MFrom 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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& z0 Z. k! E, MOnly 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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; B, B5 M& ?: n5 pBetween 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.
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; k7 R o, B. N4 M, x. r `It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ! e* w8 \, I, Q7 Z! }! T
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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.
# ]5 v+ \) C0 O" z2 T) i“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. , ?1 B0 B- p' q- @0 I! c. z" g2 [
L7 p, \; T- j1 \" U“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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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. / Q) U {1 A. V& i: c
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ! W O e3 s! [# R( \! s l
7 M# Z U0 h9 M% _9 f+ b% x( s“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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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. # R7 o3 r% j" d6 E4 E8 O
- J* _! K- v% N7 V g! j8 ~“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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! K" @) s( V) h" j9 n/ \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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