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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
! F7 n9 H1 E5 ?: a) ZFrom Today's Edmonton Journal5 p4 x4 g3 q5 O3 P' x7 w* ~8 s5 w. p
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 5 I1 h ?& {$ D. p9 c1 e6 J. N
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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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" ]3 c+ y2 ?7 b6 R o8 \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. 9 }2 V& d/ x! j
. J9 B6 Z" K7 G) K* Q$ Z" [* [- WBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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0 D1 x2 ?' _2 A& b9 nIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. $ i, j5 Y' A9 W4 n; ]
6 }: _/ R* i' p. u% t, MIt 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. / \. W. \6 h5 ]0 w
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 4 {& ^4 t* N6 r. {, k0 V2 s: p
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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1 P, w/ o% Q9 y1 G“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.” . o C" u. O) L5 f t& C8 a: `
5 `. C+ J6 Q/ Q0 y5 ?3 m8 ZBut 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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Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million.
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 9 B8 I. O; S9 D' G) O
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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.
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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7 `+ T2 y0 M( T2 V/ v0 G1 WAs 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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