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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses. q! j* M+ w! w; v5 \$ y
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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: e S4 ?4 R" K$ R5 B$ c4 tFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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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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6 E7 R( m3 g9 nOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. a: [( J9 N$ l% A8 \8 U) U
. e0 L7 I) w" X: MBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ' f; F* K ^* ~3 d6 \4 \( N J
6 ]8 ~' e( |# F% S+ A1 uIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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$ }" h+ e, X$ G" [, ]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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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. % t& _! _3 n3 c5 E- j" j. F- ~
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 1 U$ W; W5 t! }( Y
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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.” + c/ g- j9 k9 s& j& S5 g6 h
% t% z9 t. L: S( V! a# R* B3 EBut 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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5 J0 D/ G. B }' AStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 2 M1 `. o9 _' }) Q6 a
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 4 h; I/ T# c# i% 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. # R# O$ R; d2 ~4 |1 S6 O
; r" G# h5 P2 L% d7 S9 g3 pSumner 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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/ U" ]4 g1 m3 t4 ]' h% W' F“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 5 h- S' {* n* v! H0 Q/ `4 L
3 ]1 P- T3 _7 k) }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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