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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
0 @" F! G+ B$ NFrom Today's Edmonton Journal9 L7 U( C9 d8 C5 P
( l2 B$ L V7 P2 p: mMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. . I) L4 {2 S: C4 e3 g( ]
; t% i' t( X$ g' G) }7 FThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 0 V& Q! x* M( ~, `5 P
( S: ]$ M: F9 a8 ~9 wOnly 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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: z l% T/ m. L1 c' h3 Y, ]! ~Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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9 B/ W0 g! ^5 j" k; `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.
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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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/ z+ F5 |" R1 J: V“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. - ^9 [7 ]- u4 h7 ]7 B/ s8 u
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 9 G1 e% h5 h1 I
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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.” 6 N( P5 o" u' n
9 j* P$ B. a/ |* `6 \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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1 o# [, s+ N' Z* lStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. p: w3 e4 g# Q$ n$ }$ n' N
8 S/ h" X- _$ b6 m, NThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 1 Z0 ]; q. F% a$ Y
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. r. c! R! r, Q$ z: K' D
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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.
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“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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