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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
- `1 t2 j* u/ e. C M' \0 ]8 ?( E. OFrom 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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- J! n2 R: H% d& s. oFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. : j- |; z( l# @$ r
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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.
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& \4 _! j+ s; {6 D+ |# Q, D$ q$ |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. % @" J+ h, l4 d, H
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. + j8 O) L* |0 S0 m* o4 C
) D+ x* c1 d) C X( G! F, ]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. $ Z! e+ J8 U& m/ `/ D* h7 o- j
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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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+ |3 y* X; r' t4 G1 n, {2 W“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
! ]6 F# ?& Q$ s8 q“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. R. K; e& o, _4 B; |) J, z
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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.” ; P. H8 P; H& |2 ~/ F7 m0 V
- `( n8 {$ J. ?" LBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. & o- n3 X* a/ p8 g7 c! r
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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. ! J2 B1 K) E$ Q! o7 B; d
: D! y7 S1 {2 T/ O8 R6 @: X ZThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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. }- b5 ~, I' ]! M“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. , J L& V" z6 E6 g E
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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. 6 l1 D ~0 n5 q$ n, h
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. + [# o, _# m4 ^$ `* I5 T5 W7 j
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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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