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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses4 u$ _; g# j _ {/ T% S
From Today's Edmonton Journal& y! Z* {1 a$ @) t) v6 q
: z# c+ {' {3 ?* @, xMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ! B% L3 D# H! I r5 Q5 k& y% q
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From 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. # L" W, s3 g! {6 ?5 q3 J6 `- L7 a) Q5 v
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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. 4 ^4 a. [ ?' }5 \' |; M. p
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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! W* W5 v- P* d! y6 T- yIt 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. 6 l, l+ i9 E3 `" K- q& ^
% z8 Z! G3 H( U( ]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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( F+ [$ P( O# t. ?“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
& P/ r3 ]+ p3 N" r0 z, @“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 8 b' H6 O( o3 V3 k3 ^
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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.” $ N. H" T9 H$ a
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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. 4 O* Q3 x3 z4 y
9 ~0 E5 e( U9 d# H$ w: W& z9 XStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. & y2 Z' @) _& D; o" w1 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. ! h9 I6 c. }; b! w9 t
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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# O- c* I; k, L! \& SSumner 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. 5 ~1 D# _# q3 L$ }0 u+ Q8 n" e! o$ L
: P! @9 W2 t1 N9 f+ v0 O8 s“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 8 G" n; J+ U$ M- ?7 p5 O
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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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