 鲜花( 13)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
3 f% X; U5 r1 |+ W( NFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
- o: ^: Q9 `2 F$ ~+ J9 v/ q3 Q: p& S$ }+ Y7 w5 V
Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. % w( j+ Z$ J, E% u2 b' N
) O8 J" a9 G; c( M# D
From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 8 C Y6 y; Z! c5 C
( y5 }/ [1 c1 \
That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. " ]! f/ ^) ~: t7 y2 m: B5 U8 i
; _1 ]+ s8 Y" d. lOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
! h9 T! A5 S4 U: |' P. V) h
6 N( Y7 a$ `& e* jBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
2 S$ H+ Q9 M- D2 h& P5 e9 T d1 h0 I- L7 U* `
It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ) x/ x& I& A/ ?) s/ U* S+ N. D
! }5 y- [: Y, _9 m! m
It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
8 H6 Z6 {7 i; H3 a w/ J6 _, U' V2 @
ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region.
! h9 d" R5 q( S2 T
- N; v6 a4 J2 H1 M# Y“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. . J: ^4 F4 ~9 r! Y
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 2 w5 y8 @2 ]; z/ a" k! j& d% ~# t
) g0 Z' ?% A8 Q1 }7 Z3 M“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/ N& c2 g7 l9 Q" n7 }6 _. E% q; M. X# \! h7 K
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.
( u, M! x: k# U9 Z' p* N; u: b. \' `2 D8 j( R
Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. , R! s" ?7 @( X* U! ^
* e' A, E: G4 `6 ?
That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
# Y2 n3 ]9 ~* g' p ~& D& J; A% v$ E" e& C7 v9 `! J
“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
/ }3 A- R3 e! w
4 ^$ x0 P [ w# w, rSumner 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.
4 a `- Q' b+ u5 \ \' j- j
1 ]# Z( y; o8 t p1 H2 ]2 p“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
3 y2 {# t4 S/ ]9 e0 L
5 n" f6 f3 p4 M p7 }As of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
|