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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
6 ^+ _" e6 x. n) JFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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R5 ^* j! k& B! _: N1 kMigration 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.
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' ^: X" K1 {5 e- T) `That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. . {% S; B, [( @1 A
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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 G- ?4 d: a) K2 Z" Q
8 K) v8 V4 D, z/ tBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. & Q E# O& {9 }5 x6 _2 L/ I
" m' ^9 M: ~* o: \5 j- _& a0 l" {It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. * A, K# S1 @* @6 P1 `, U, R
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. % [9 \% g7 |" F" w% c. S
4 y9 F: z, _4 \0 ]# OATB 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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5 _" R! c0 O' Y8 Y" ^% R“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ' h3 z, `" u4 J3 w0 k/ t
“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.” . i+ l# E8 L3 ^% S4 q' Z3 `7 p' w
0 c. D6 N8 k* `9 i! G, f8 [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. ) A, d, h7 \; F. |- ?2 p
% N3 M' k% j1 n1 z3 |0 u5 m5 AStatistics 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. w1 Q4 ~1 P# B: u% c. ]* r4 \& h
3 {- w& d+ W( z“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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& `+ X5 g5 N3 Z# Z- USumner 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. , L4 l& A' m% ?, I! R
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“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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