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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
. R6 t; L/ [; i, _5 D( IFrom Today's Edmonton Journal! c+ z1 h. S: D; G2 l. q
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. . L. u. W) R# v4 z; v5 O; e! ~
$ ~( `6 T" n/ ]8 e) xFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. $ I2 ~( X9 w# b( S6 {3 d Z
+ z- C9 x0 n' J2 C2 X+ o& `3 KThat 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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. _0 d f1 w( e7 m2 x6 zOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. ' u5 T9 j* }% K: U0 V) l/ D
6 p# X& ]$ d2 F/ F8 \6 ^7 v/ yBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ; O7 U J' } d0 {$ u& i
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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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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. m3 l, ^- W4 F1 ?0 J“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. % i7 ?0 S" V$ W R# C* X
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 7 }& Z- R& Q* ~3 e$ K
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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.” . y9 t% P; ^2 Y
* v4 C7 Q/ m7 r9 S( L8 YBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. : v# Y+ R8 F# _0 s! M0 O1 ?
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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. & u1 u3 b- R0 W" O/ g# k% H
% M- T% q# \9 |( K1 ZThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 4 S! c8 [; a* D# W0 {1 N
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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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# r1 B" v6 q0 FSumner 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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0 g. U# c6 d' {$ Q& }“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. & \7 z$ t U" p: G* O; B4 D
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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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