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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses, T/ C0 M3 B7 Z9 W5 N
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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8 Z8 |' `6 `3 n+ _- o2 _% _From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. + A- O, I' O6 S0 K, F& L
% \5 w+ U2 N8 ~( I! A/ JOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. * _6 B; }5 ~6 t0 P& T* c
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Between 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. - f# u3 M7 ?) W d/ g: p! b
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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3 z' V: z) ]! a2 h% |ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. ( m3 r4 x# h1 a# X: \2 [
5 n) A! f8 L8 W1 V“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. + k1 H! e2 q! v( j+ c/ o4 Z+ c
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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& J+ h. h4 b) k5 J“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.” ' }8 E2 K+ ]" o2 C/ B% Y3 @' Z
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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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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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+ H1 H8 p3 g2 V* n5 fThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. + k0 j0 G$ L1 J' p# \
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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. h0 M& K, w) j7 a+ w
W& @% u7 i2 U. y“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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