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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses( @4 r) d+ U& l; U7 {: D& C" l
From Today's Edmonton Journal3 c& w* b; k, n/ W8 A
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. % [- V; A# g# |/ G
. p. N/ v( L$ K4 x+ f; b7 DFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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% D' x9 K# p6 Z! d7 @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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5 e8 R+ _- q7 vOnly 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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! q/ H- a! J+ @2 u' l) I6 ?+ w. V) S3 IBetween 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. 3 I# S3 \+ F- m. |# \& L# b
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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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. - ?- ~2 _) Y$ S' K/ C% u8 u- B
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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5 G1 S7 V- v# H( R“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.” + j+ c" H6 e0 h. V" G) @8 K1 C
% ]+ W5 J, d8 Y" j$ l# P& `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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5 Q* E% ]. {! [) _9 P6 ~Statistics 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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8 l8 C6 ?: W9 o0 d% p. J4 D1 IThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 9 d3 y T+ I/ T' Z1 q
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. . q; e4 J3 k4 z j' N2 X
$ D0 l, z5 v( D9 kSumner 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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3 T7 T- b; R9 O# `* Y9 e“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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