 鲜花( 13)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
/ G9 z% u5 e; G2 W" }+ c5 I+ mFrom Today's Edmonton Journal5 p5 [0 W. N5 Q9 F- S/ O
; h, r% u! t# Q6 |3 j8 TMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 9 i; y8 n7 G+ z) p" T) i
, q! z3 n. i4 F0 h* |; c( SFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. . G; ^2 |4 T) M' M; ]2 }
: s8 G @* W6 PThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. % @$ `8 E6 k9 t: Y. N6 ]3 @; _; c
6 { b' @" `! b! s) bOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
7 x* d3 l% E+ d9 J7 ^( X6 n3 f2 y; b5 x2 o: B
Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ' B0 \5 q$ I$ l4 c) ?& N* L/ a
) o% v- F" w+ |# ]It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. / N$ z( Y" y- q3 {% G
3 H! q8 j+ |( x. x! OIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
9 u+ ~" [1 U$ E1 G* F) h. _; L& S7 v( A/ @! D
ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region.
1 U5 B) d# P( U+ ^3 O) E
$ ]0 ^0 E! |2 o2 }6 u& w$ _“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
! r' w$ A3 g: y4 ]6 {, D' W“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
8 I0 `+ J3 \3 P$ [: M1 i6 ^
" m1 q I# a0 m% h. l8 w0 y" Z2 c! h“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.” 1 L* \# K& b! e) s
2 o6 J" b% o3 A) V
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.
/ R$ C+ g8 U z/ U& e9 C
' T3 B* R5 i* p5 oStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. ' Y z# j! U* u4 O4 |0 x4 b
5 t! |: ~2 S1 c/ J
That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ( M1 H' I: w' J
, e$ h% F1 }6 x" I7 v“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. ' \7 E l( W1 F: x P5 P p: j9 Q
" K( [: _2 y& p! zSumner 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 K6 p* }( i3 P! X) f- G
, i4 b5 S9 s: o+ \. g, F“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
) C5 r. y- ?- A: c$ F# c8 E/ a8 ]# @ l1 s
As of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
|