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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
1 Q2 U8 \1 {) S) H* K9 n' ^/ VFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. % D' ?6 J5 C2 P$ B0 u
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. & A. w8 E, R6 Z" X9 T2 Q/ O J
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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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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. + e2 ~5 A5 i6 Y9 N5 s
8 @* {( |+ C" ]- e+ A+ J& FBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 1 X& m" \! K8 F+ k% P% C& S3 t
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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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. d+ Y6 c; d1 A0 X7 |/ s ^ sATB 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. ) \3 G) W$ d- p% U# z Z
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. * Q; t& p3 ` A4 ~. ^) \; u. }
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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.” 4 v6 {; a/ d4 ~' n" K7 k
3 f- \2 n* Y6 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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3 z3 D$ _" C+ MStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 9 {" L$ N: i4 B: W
4 y( B: s" c/ F+ S9 N- kThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ) C4 V0 R- b& G3 Z1 r
8 |& C& f1 _8 r( }& V9 N* W“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 0 x2 e7 r J- c- U) d }
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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.
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0 P* `: d2 }1 d6 i+ H7 ~# E- y! g“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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" H' D4 w- `, R/ \2 ]" Q. l, [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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