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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses6 ^3 ~" l2 U3 n' D2 X
From Today's Edmonton Journal2 R+ _; t1 x) D2 t- a
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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/ v2 ]5 i! G/ ^' @5 m' YFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. % ?& L3 f" W, d8 k
6 V% t( ?+ U% U4 Z! y& \& c9 H8 BThat 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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/ w- k2 X2 }( p6 Z9 [9 @8 ]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.
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% I$ \7 E' _6 t0 e$ U, pBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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8 d# g$ J J# I# l; x h9 p& GIt 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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* O \& c& z# L EATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. % v7 \, V0 l& d/ d) i" v
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
6 v8 }/ k8 _4 N k: z“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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! [9 W* t" d$ o6 ^3 O“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.” - b+ m6 o3 @: J
! Q1 n0 x% \: y! b2 V/ [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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, [! _! t7 f% q$ G- `Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 3 O/ ^! I8 X q! C* D2 K
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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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. + J- t! d8 q, I7 S1 I' N* ?
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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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