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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
: P6 D0 v* |! U9 EFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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+ z. [2 l! J- m" {Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. + E% L9 q7 M1 Q
1 u& s0 W5 R/ j0 z8 K- LFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 3 r* R1 p% ]7 `& A7 ]% N+ r2 v E
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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. 5 r8 `/ Q! I% w- @7 E& u
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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. : }1 j7 a. h* K; X
, z5 i @* i6 D. ]1 k6 n6 J' w5 gBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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, S" {% I4 h# J9 H# qIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. # M% H- ]+ B4 _! F+ k
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. , _: K! \) b1 V, ]! y6 i
0 M! K9 S* F0 aATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. * j3 c% F$ `0 g. z
; H: f; j$ t8 P+ O2 ]“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. . f/ y/ w8 R$ n: A! \+ C- w
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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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.” 3 h% [ A9 t8 o
7 u* b4 E2 d3 W$ D: d; }2 H1 _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. ( {4 s- W# k; o. t* j! d. K
3 L+ a, Q- X! [Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. * V( b" W0 B, G/ ~$ Q& i
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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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, b6 e' m' n/ X$ ]“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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6 ?9 @1 k8 N% H8 Q+ A% u* NSumner 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. 5 _+ y# b1 S; G
( m3 n4 y- L$ Y* p) h“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 0 i- v. ^, r/ J9 k5 e3 x* k4 P- p
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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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