 鲜花( 13)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses& q& u& {% s0 o) O9 p& e% W1 F
From Today's Edmonton Journal# _7 P: R5 E; N. ^- j
& |7 N; x6 u* g3 yMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. , L9 k7 J- j2 n" q; J7 a" [
1 W5 B# U1 n1 N" [9 l: d
From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. : \( J1 h- o& Z/ g6 u8 i/ A
% m4 [3 a" Q3 K5 o* ]That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 5 l1 c9 \( i' Z( k
- z8 F e% N+ zOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
' C2 i" z; ?, J3 i* N, e5 F( w2 d6 W
p* V+ ?; L) }# h3 K, n1 xBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
3 x! h# P$ T( v1 T
2 r1 D R4 w; dIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 8 c! t7 l9 @( l r9 n2 ^ q9 n" i
2 q6 A. J3 M2 E& c# G$ O% _. k; EIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
x9 M6 t" }1 Y- M" Q7 E
$ D5 T ?" D. p# ?5 ^ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. ) p$ c6 z" k9 C, X; D' m5 h1 H
/ y0 S! I; U- `2 ~+ F
“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ! T! J! S$ c) |" N5 B& x
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
1 S* b5 H' [8 `9 c, d: I: P5 q: ^. C; j+ {1 T; F$ C1 r! V9 g2 B
“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.” ' X- W: A* H s D F! c O
1 {5 s7 m( t; ?5 x4 ~) E/ }
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.
: s2 K0 ^6 U9 H+ Y% W
0 R: V2 b: o: b2 JStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million.
" b* Q3 B; O* A' K; t7 R9 Z. G4 N: N' q+ ?1 L! r
That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
7 i( a5 y ]3 U6 q/ Q7 U W$ x7 R4 c/ k
“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
A- A; O w. ?' }
2 v/ L( x, g, [3 E: ]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. 0 N$ v4 X1 n$ ]" H* b
6 J7 A1 U) P8 G, b; Q
“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 2 Y) o5 p6 a, ~' m
& x& E" D/ g8 C0 MAs of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
|