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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses4 u, E h0 O: K
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 7 v6 y5 W* j7 L# Y
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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. ; j7 H& S, J* y/ J, ?: Q e3 c
# V1 _( O. f4 ~% r* xOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. & _0 y7 d6 ?+ X0 f6 p8 G9 B* [+ t2 t
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ]. L0 x) d- |
$ q& w. A- f- S: O9 Z$ j6 ~6 @3 xIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. w# x9 z, w8 [6 @0 ?
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. * Q, H5 O1 w% G1 P9 A0 A: [
' Q$ \8 V) @/ q4 W# b9 wATB 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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4 m+ n& P: N) R5 H) |“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
. G& g% Z: D) K6 ~1 o“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. , i2 ?* b9 Z0 q" V: v0 o& m/ Y4 X
2 M6 r: T$ \# |2 T, U% F“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. 3 S: Q6 `7 M& t+ z2 p
; F, ]/ y2 Z' SStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. " s' }2 f6 Q' v0 R% 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. + V Q* X( V& J: g5 [$ }/ |/ A
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“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. ( W/ H9 a( Y' p) W5 }0 w. E
- A- @* t w0 w, T/ h- I% W# u( d“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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8 e7 g/ N. H) \1 j! E7 QAs 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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