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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
: a# N% @( i7 G5 X" v* U" HFrom Today's Edmonton Journal* E6 K6 x o- M3 @% m& q
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. $ c3 q6 z* w: J1 R5 t/ S9 Y4 L
1 T# c$ [, g' w4 L; [1 p pFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ) V" p, B9 e- b1 M6 h) O
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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. 0 E5 f8 M3 s0 w
" m. J d- x3 U. |6 tBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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( I& U, F' h* Z- v' r- zIt 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. " v9 w3 z" Z9 s7 W
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 0 J7 r" c1 I0 A6 s/ n
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. - A. P5 q" c; N# c
, Y' ?: x- \! S' M: X“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.”
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) ?, z; B) `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. * M" w }+ j7 ^, K/ e5 h2 {# G
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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. ! o$ I* g8 C$ u- y- t
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. # a* z& D( V1 k; D
" l' J$ D' i6 d4 M7 C5 b9 Y, KSumner 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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9 }0 Y, A& L) \, U* c& I/ k“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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3 N' M- \8 D7 d, AAs 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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