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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
7 u) C4 I" o( h- E. RFrom Today's Edmonton Journal3 Z5 u! t/ k! W) r4 O
* n7 q' s( J* b8 a4 f' a8 e3 C" ZMigration 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. 8 E! @( `' e& e$ ~$ u- {
- n0 c% ?1 e+ l1 w6 b3 KThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. ; H8 l" b3 \- i0 A
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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.
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3 q- i& k6 b& b/ A- u, P# z; `! @Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ( p B& k6 J; j+ u# { E$ _, U
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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5 D4 P4 t! `8 }' ` jIt 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. & U+ i9 A7 U3 b% b7 |$ t- _) S) y
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
h. d9 d4 `+ V; S5 q# A2 e. W. ^7 B“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. : c8 b& J+ \ T
' H+ s! i5 ^2 S: s+ b( N( Q; e( f1 |“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.” s) j R2 l$ ^. {) Z
! M1 D* C* ~* j# s3 T! f% M. kBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. 0 m* h7 ]- l) B2 E" m
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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. ! u% a2 ?: y7 m: i4 }$ Q
& |! Y. }3 y- H$ g# y“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. - a' T" S; s: r$ v
, }+ g! h z; E3 V- P/ H“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. * `7 z! I" W/ s7 ]+ V) y) k1 }( u
9 _2 s8 j0 b2 p$ n- 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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