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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
8 M7 ^9 N! G* n, S5 C( g4 }6 gFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. " w2 \* o7 f( b7 {, v/ z
9 ?0 f7 d, a; ]/ m2 P' s8 yFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 8 w# N* V: \+ ^7 B
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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.
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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. . v6 F% Q/ K( e9 h4 b7 {4 G
+ a8 |) n) ~7 l4 D8 n- \# z/ rBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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3 T% i0 }! N$ m% f6 T' dIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 8 Y* y0 \' S) N' b
5 F i& w4 t- ]* GIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 6 x/ M9 D+ Y( O$ Q( p* w% h
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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. 1 B T1 h' s' @6 t! f% v$ X
# ~, Y% z1 t0 a7 \“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
! b$ `, r, }* t“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. / U. H# R3 `' v# x! R
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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.” , g+ ?7 M' W0 k% H7 [: E, V% z
+ _" o- t* {( F: gBut 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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Statistics 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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: G7 N. V9 z' H4 k0 k3 _That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. / ^4 J n2 [* e6 c% H
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 2 r6 `6 @& R i+ d* e3 Y4 O
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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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+ Z. ~" ]4 ~' Z/ H, S“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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