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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
' F* ~& C" N6 [- w) ?From Today's Edmonton Journal) g& ?+ n( I2 R: {4 l# w
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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. 7 n" y& g2 _$ Y( }7 h
6 l3 }0 ?, c5 [: JThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 5 k( z5 ^# J5 |! U' n \3 M5 P/ O4 O8 C
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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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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ; ^6 F- q5 `! S" y+ y
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It 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. 0 Q& J5 ]9 M/ S. R- ?' h7 J$ L
* H U1 _8 F/ C8 VATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. * C- D8 n+ r' k3 F) [- F
; R4 J! u' U( V7 Z3 Z“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
( x G/ Q( y& c' y- [. w v“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ' o8 l# x, v$ r+ w; M
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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.” - S% o, b& {% i9 h+ h0 B
- t% f3 I! b! K; LBut 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 K* s$ r. W+ y0 v9 A9 G: [4 A
. ]/ t+ {7 l0 ]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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" k& }& n' G% U( r8 A6 rThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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8 H3 J; S) r8 ] x“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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5 t5 h, R2 G; d1 Z3 r1 h8 |1 jSumner 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. # J* J5 r. p) S' P8 x S0 o" Q
' w0 N9 Z6 F' J5 g/ o“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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