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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses* C$ l$ V! G( D
From Today's Edmonton Journal6 u) S. Z3 C" I- j# G+ a+ u
( k! {1 V5 H: _Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 8 G3 i& J! }9 G% l
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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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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9 H/ J. S% \2 O) COnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 8 s8 O0 w! q& k/ _. _3 H
* i5 S3 V+ n3 Y n! SBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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! ?0 r& y/ w6 r1 v& cIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. - I6 V$ H0 Y/ u |0 c$ M% ]1 x- @% ]
! q2 [0 N2 b, b' |7 S- ?It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. & F2 N3 k, I- x5 Y& Z7 r
]: r& n: Z; H2 Y* F3 BATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. " X+ C( j* ?0 ^' P2 g
# Q3 w. n) x$ M- Z+ e! ~“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
_. K( L, V( \$ q! W“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. + @2 e' Z$ g B0 }. C+ C
, t6 w: _3 ~, |- z- q“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.” 1 w# T. p. O! o; @8 y2 d. `
! O# F+ i' F( N" b( S; Q0 l" QBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. + s# U+ l: m% a0 U
: D) A5 g+ ]+ }+ \+ kStatistics 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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9 e; y4 r6 ?+ AThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“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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* t4 A l+ R W1 q0 _( u“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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; h/ {( Z8 \- f+ X( v' O6 l8 W9 m8 [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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