 鲜花( 13)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
; a) X# J& [, C0 y2 c# x1 ]From Today's Edmonton Journal" e8 C( C$ a9 n
% y" ^: {7 o3 B. y* VMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
9 k4 s$ v, o" y% d% t
. T! u0 G. y1 ~3 VFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. * ~& m1 X8 n4 K- c2 f+ Q2 `; u+ x
3 l2 w* k& O" s- ^
That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta.
/ R1 x) H/ U0 l8 q y/ |8 G1 s, \, e' n8 O
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.
6 a; |" X) S( c7 {7 i' g& B i% a7 J1 L+ G( X* i6 T; O' B
Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. A6 c) U/ M9 ? C, F
6 k7 _. c1 e$ r c
It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 7 N5 }' V* r y9 J0 `# e4 u
2 Q6 l/ [9 [- j2 x) x8 H lIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
$ P0 X. K/ x8 Y1 y) V4 O
% v( f. [8 O' GATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 1 \) ?+ S3 g6 P3 o# X: l; r
5 `, _) }1 `3 Q3 }' |$ k“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
7 h: k5 z. s5 j+ J“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. # x, o) p6 S: N- ?! B, z
/ _$ I" P' ]0 a# V
“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.” ! F0 ~' ^4 ], E0 a$ w$ R; a
+ ~1 f7 u' |0 z% iBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely.
; e$ y2 W; R$ S1 o: T0 Y( n, `( ?0 G
Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million.
- y; h7 U, C5 x' {! e4 I, z7 |0 j: m! m d. a" D d4 C
That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. : S' ~0 b) f3 m3 q8 `
7 Y/ G" c0 Z$ R# D- w“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 4 w" ^9 R$ X8 r4 v3 n2 N/ P8 L8 q* P
# E, y* ]! i v+ y4 B2 x( l, L! P
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. & Z) f# I# v5 v' J
$ Q3 k/ F- w" ?( z“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
" U) d6 N2 G8 N" W9 t/ }3 r( _
$ D% t5 G9 `" b8 B' SAs of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
|