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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
* d- Q5 G4 M2 J, ]6 F% A, mFrom Today's Edmonton Journal- M! u# \6 p" t
( Z' p, X, z8 a( l' W' d4 NMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. $ A1 U& J" W0 ^4 U* u! P
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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9 D9 U3 h6 X" D# @6 q+ @That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. ) \$ E: E0 g/ n; `* W! E' I
# _$ e2 G( u9 ?" X: {! n* p" OOnly 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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5 v: E3 s- a' j# t% G# hBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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$ F9 g8 G& K9 b3 v7 _# A8 jIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 3 R0 W% A; W- @) _
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It 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.
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! d( d) C4 M1 j( X+ E: {“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
& ]% m" k. t8 t9 ?7 D& \& _: p. F“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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" u' q* i: A8 @9 e“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.”
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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. ' l h( i) K- K8 B6 b) U( b
! E! `( b" X+ C/ v: T# bStatistics 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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3 H5 W% I9 ` \That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 8 R6 h7 J# z& L
# ^- B9 A9 ^$ x2 V“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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$ A7 x1 G& e4 o* q( m( e5 Y {“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 0 U# E# O5 [- e
3 ]( B# f4 }# D/ [' G1 ~8 PAs 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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