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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
, x: t% ^ z' V. aFrom Today's Edmonton Journal7 U* \+ E4 p6 P3 U" I
4 l7 C$ E. N4 t" _Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. & C. \ B: [2 V8 J$ A
, I" v! ]+ W( i* i, [! tFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 6 Q! t& Y. P# _* t/ u
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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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; E2 D$ q6 X* ]7 o* I( u0 _ IOnly 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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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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* X+ G0 M- E. x; f5 DIt 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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ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. : |1 `' P+ ~" N9 D+ ^
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. & u ^7 k" `. n$ J) `6 M# i
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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; h7 x8 V3 O; c6 G( u" h h“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. ' _ |3 Q. v8 h( M+ I
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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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, ^2 c, h3 L) p, _- c0 {5 y* g& `That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ) F0 n7 w$ s, G6 Y
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. \% B- q9 G9 j- T; C/ g4 a$ P7 ?
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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. + c3 s+ n# z5 v C; q4 q* c
5 m/ k/ ^; j& ^1 S“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 3 r# X$ e" L# T& Y0 o" g+ C3 p9 L
" Q/ B$ S: g% B3 EAs 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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