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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
' N; n; s# G4 v* YFrom Today's Edmonton Journal0 L& R- |0 l& k5 n
) T o$ s5 m4 z: [! X" S5 ^Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. " [3 {7 J- h4 i0 m# M% g. a
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 9 J4 i/ _% x7 U' T/ r' k/ t5 ]/ g
/ o% D% u" g7 R' t/ j! V kThat 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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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. % y7 V, d4 x; h6 t% O- F$ \# w8 S c
8 X9 P* n- g/ U& L( U- d$ {It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. % K: A( {* x& ?1 U/ l6 K
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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: ^2 Q+ o, b& ^* f6 t/ x2 MATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region.
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ; P1 F2 O& T* }4 @) q4 q8 T
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. w' h8 Y2 w6 R/ ]8 c% ~( v
2 W" M: F0 R4 x% _“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.”
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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.
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% w1 a: y1 J3 e$ D2 L1 O# C) G9 XStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. / o8 c. b3 D/ Q& ]" A o0 w2 [
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ; G" ]9 e9 W3 O% }: V0 D& v
- C1 y( c' R. j% c0 b“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 3 z# P [" _, Q8 l. R1 o- U9 |8 U
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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. 9 w: B/ {. o( k4 ~1 \0 K7 e2 A
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ) i( o/ l# q0 o( u" N! |' Y: G
# N4 a7 F/ b) W1 dAs 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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