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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses, X9 D5 T; @- F: P
From Today's Edmonton Journal% n& h$ p* g X1 `; c
8 b, n d: u; H/ j9 _$ nMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 1 b% `9 B/ V4 |
' q7 _( V5 P7 KFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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7 z2 s: m( K A* Q8 ~) {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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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. # I l' J$ }0 f T7 h5 A
6 W' Q4 [& d3 f( eBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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- p9 G& I2 A: i MIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ; ~! I( N) W; Z: g7 A3 @
" F; g2 R2 b3 t, L, g3 IATB 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.
2 O8 n9 i+ f4 n7 |6 q) }“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 6 _/ u2 J" ]$ V1 J1 ~
+ N( g# U A" v3 ^% ]8 Z“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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! v* X0 J2 N* U/ i1 d( X+ r4 kBut 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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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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$ }9 y- |% `& E% zThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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& B2 z. N# Q" F5 h& E4 z“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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3 n1 h' c; X1 x2 YSumner 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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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ) F- x5 }7 a- g" X1 M y7 W5 ?6 B
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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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