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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses3 y; M' d0 e% b
From Today's Edmonton Journal* j: W' x! C7 Z g# z& \
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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* y) Y* w( j- i8 q4 X% s0 lFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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# q4 c6 E" O7 iThat 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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6 X7 j F& p% n( e& 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.
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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. # l; s, u- ?! d
; z7 ?/ f7 D% \It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 0 b9 {! V3 f) I6 j
- E1 a8 G# [6 n0 p" v* Z' qATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. ' i j* Q' L* n
( r8 r# |0 N9 U2 B“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. . o/ E8 }/ \2 e e: X; I5 |$ [) i- o
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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* I" k1 o- b( B" u! F“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.” ! J# W. W8 ?% j1 J4 a) Q
6 u( C; I: X/ D) q% yBut 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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1 h! x9 P: i, G6 nStatistics 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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! b. O8 S. C8 d, }1 lThat 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. 3 c7 o1 ?7 F& }7 u
" d; E E( V2 ]9 OSumner 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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" K) b7 y+ 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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