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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
! f4 Q5 B* @7 r6 \7 {, i( UFrom Today's Edmonton Journal3 H# _+ p/ f$ V3 N6 i! O: r
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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. * f# H2 ^7 J5 ?+ g& S9 t; H
7 n9 t4 v4 e' d. L% Q! q# 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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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.
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. i& E2 \! {* V) b$ GBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 3 f0 d5 [7 G& N7 j4 C
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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. # h/ |, u. D# ?' }: `
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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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& s% F0 C7 t3 K; C& D; l“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 0 S+ N! M3 }8 K+ m' u/ t
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 2 U7 ^; w4 W, \
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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.”
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. L: S& I( g* Z. e7 S3 U- RBut 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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9 O+ l+ W7 f" f) f$ W3 nStatistics 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. ' t/ u9 c% n' g6 [5 s2 w 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. 3 N5 B1 _9 o( U: Z8 R; O
7 B1 q) [7 E A: ~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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( n) ]) j1 V9 U+ M, f“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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9 ~! K+ z1 o7 }" K3 @, 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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