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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
: e5 [. z! A$ Z; j$ d% D( q4 CFrom Today's Edmonton Journal, m8 @. S0 m! O" k O
/ w" N" m7 h1 N, G; a* @Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ! [4 b9 @# G5 {$ @6 Q3 d
7 s; `( M# k# ~0 G% }+ O! mThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 9 T) ^" L% `& Z U
& r9 s% ?/ n! }/ Z2 ^- a8 v% H1 ?0 MOnly 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. : w9 [5 K% c/ I, M- I
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It 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.
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 3 q1 H8 C$ O2 N
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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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.” M* \9 r- ?2 s$ ~3 S& a
5 j. h! T- C% j7 k5 x; S3 E) w2 X' _4 YBut 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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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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% k0 f8 {3 O: Q9 P1 D“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 2 G7 I( r H# t j
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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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_5 t# S1 C: E* u1 @8 f“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 7 m5 |0 p5 O) G% T
1 p/ f& \5 V# b8 s) x, XAs 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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