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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
' P* {9 k' Y4 q: Q" }9 v6 L" MFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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$ E. V7 J! H% r) _1 oMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. : w1 j2 K% ]9 E, D6 J) s- X# k
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 3 l8 E* u( E8 M; r: k
# d% u7 h3 ~2 |& [* SThat 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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$ w7 l* Y2 v6 R6 V# T4 CBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. / Z, y: k% z: d! f& ^, G
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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. o- Q# }. U: I6 m& }
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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.
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2 \- }6 V* _) z& p$ m/ y2 }- E' \“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ( x1 @$ }* M! ?* n: a
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. # [% W' `) q. M/ e, X* `
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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.”
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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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4 K( k' R `% g3 HStatistics 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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. L+ p' g3 J7 n. Y. b- ]1 T( F“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. + r: S; {' K" E6 v" m( r# ^
! U9 F5 `/ ^ WSumner 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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- z6 f" F1 ~: \( e1 A8 }“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ) l. Q5 m5 Q( h, t% v
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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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