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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses; n7 p$ m8 E% R2 T
From Today's Edmonton Journal5 G+ ]% _; C( j& ]) P y$ ^5 G' Q% f
& U- u) y' f7 @7 OMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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" v8 H4 D6 j8 R0 h1 A( JFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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/ G' T& y5 C( U9 K1 l3 tThat 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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/ B) a; Q+ g5 tOnly 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. * M# b7 D' e5 o8 Q( V; l
- E+ p4 U) Z" [- b8 IIt 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. $ a- M; P. I" o9 ]) @$ C. I% s
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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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) Y2 W% g! Z' w' q; R. Z7 X: w/ @“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 1 l8 u- `0 J9 E( x$ D/ h* u. @) U3 Q3 ~
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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* c" E7 `1 ~& D" S. Q# u2 ]“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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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. % x3 K1 q6 I7 o. ?4 ]5 r W
) \% p* X* f/ s g1 [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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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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2 D% W; E! p! J: O“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 7 f1 ^( R7 k5 Y8 @ X: a9 O
+ y- v6 U! n8 H* j G/ Q. CSumner 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. D7 n) x& T! P* G
3 T: }: y$ g1 t3 E“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 2 Q1 j2 |/ R% I N$ J$ B: k5 H
3 n# b: C% g0 j' r3 y0 qAs 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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