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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
) \- p8 r; a+ G% ~( O! k& uFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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; ^3 n+ w8 Y& X5 ?+ P3 |( JMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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5 e; A( G2 r& ? C" L, cFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 9 Q* H5 O. z3 V
7 a7 S1 f8 O% c+ nThat 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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# ]7 U' B- s: L, B5 [9 F8 c. F2 ], SOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. ( U8 j7 }8 f, i0 G0 }
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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7 U4 i" n, X0 G- M5 N9 S9 |It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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/ {) w5 [0 D5 Y0 k, u$ c4 C: l, L, k% w4 {It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. & ]* o0 ]6 ?8 N) a1 D
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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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8 r p2 z) _' n+ x" x7 ]* l“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
) E. Q9 x/ n Y6 W8 u( F0 a“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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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.” 0 h9 \7 m' `, B& `6 s- U( C( N" u
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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. 9 W; n0 G- 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. 7 N% X% F8 ~, V; U7 z' w) G1 p2 q
. s4 H. x7 D0 ~0 R* f* O5 X. tThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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$ @& M$ w6 U6 |8 l! ^1 v$ N“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. ; R$ a, |2 U# l! {; h
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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. : V4 D7 e! ?" z
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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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