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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
3 s- G& k4 v; `9 p7 v" UFrom Today's Edmonton Journal! Z- w9 P/ ]; }
1 s3 F1 ?$ M$ r1 e) S$ m1 Q5 NMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. $ ^/ e- p) e o7 i1 A$ l# @
/ u1 z% Q- `8 S1 d" {From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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7 @3 L( e' B& {That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. . l1 |7 _: C) T* X$ R# Y0 k- P4 [
$ n) a/ w9 q0 j, ~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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, Z4 @9 z2 B! Y' k; O) ^Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. : x; } y9 b8 ~2 v. m5 Y1 o1 p4 X: t
, z7 W% \6 s( P5 }; J! {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. & i0 |+ `# V: H( Z
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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. % [8 h/ O. \9 v; N8 Y0 \2 F2 e* L
1 i' ^ E. a- B8 u- A“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. $ j6 z# ^8 P9 B! w+ K
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ' R8 o/ I. g" y3 M/ Z s" J
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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.” ; \' @6 ?4 s1 r# w1 _
* v, y; q# k% c- P4 \1 u$ _0 nBut 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 Y$ w/ X" {" e
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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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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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+ c6 [# j. c& V- 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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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. " a1 [3 |9 p+ B
) f# X# S, x! P0 ?7 E“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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