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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
7 U' ]2 E2 M- G2 I5 U( EFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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' F" s. \4 @6 F3 r- ~; TMigration 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. ) m' H1 l3 A2 ]' l8 Z
. X. V# F, a0 E/ YThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. * D) U2 x B& V% b' ~: v; T3 r3 a
2 [" R# U# {$ k# R4 W# ?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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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 3 f7 Y: z. \5 S3 ?3 U8 e
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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9 E# ]* U) X( Y7 _8 IIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. : A7 u; W; p. L* J! D7 C3 v; X
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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. ) ^. C1 e% e9 i# Q; j8 E3 j4 t
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
% w- H' @% G9 F! b9 ]! Z2 Q1 Y“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. : R# F4 e; o t: z: X
2 ?6 T# r C$ W% y“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.” / b( ]8 p$ j5 K1 o8 ~& u1 d
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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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) V5 ~ l$ o( TStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 8 \* Q. d8 v/ C" W9 d! p. ]
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 8 P# e$ F3 r* E% U; c( k
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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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. ) o% Y( q% W0 p; F
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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6 v3 v4 g' H0 b. i, Y CAs 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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