ZT - Running back to Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina ...

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, March 30, 2007

! A. K, H6 o6 d- u! GEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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For the first time since 1996, more people are moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan than the other way around. It's part of a slight slowdown in Alberta's population growth, which is still increasing at four times the rest of the country.
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According to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.

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Cam and Crystal Hamilton and their 11-month-old son Brady move back to Regina from Edmonton. Now they're in a bigger house and debt-free.
Photograph by : Regina Leader-Post

That is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.
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$ u2 K. g: k  e4 w"This is a good batch of numbers," said Roy Schneider, spokesman for Saskatchewan Industry and Resources. "We were bleeding so many people to Alberta for such a long time I'd be happy to see (a net increase from Alberta of) two.
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7 V; I* K1 i7 V  K* D! z" CFor years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.

Even in the third quarter of 2006, Saskatchewan experienced a net loss of 994 people to Alberta, and the province launched an ad campaign, extolling the better life of Saskatchewan in billboards popping up around Edmonton.

1 v. n6 g& ]; M0 x; @Statistics Canada hasn't tracked who these people are, but Crystal and Cam Hamilton, who moved back to Regina at the beginning of the year, might be typical.

( [+ H- y' ]+ b$ z" GCam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.

# ^- I; a" f, U0 \+ y( aThere were no jobs in Regina in his field, so he stayed in Edmonton to work. Crystal followed him here and they married, eventually buying a house in Lymburn in southwest Edmonton.
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After having their son Brady, who is now 11 months old, they decided it would be nice to be back in Regina with family, and that became possible.
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"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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They ended up with a tidy nest egg from the move and managed to pay off their debts. The Edmonton house they bought two years ago for $157,000 got them $306,000, and they built a new, larger home in Regina for $190,000.
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" g* J4 [) ]4 D' u# m( X"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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; c8 M* y0 U% Y) b9 R% K! \9 v- N8 @She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.

"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."
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Vicki Delnea and her husband Rod had similar reasons for moving to Regina from Calgary -- the difference in the cost of housing enabled them to pay off their mortgage.
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"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.
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! _, s) p. F% I4 jWhile she is from London, England, Rod was originally from Regina, and it will be great for her three-year-old, Joshua, to know his grandparents, she said.
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2 p( ]2 z& y1 tRod, who works in marketing, was able to keep his job and is working out of a home office, which saves him a 40-minute commute.

% }( W: _( y% x- H! i6 ?+ p"Everybody thought we were crazy moving here because there is a stigma against Saskatchewan. When we told them Regina, they said: 'Why?' We said: 'Why not?' "
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So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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: Z# v; |4 H; \6 `# o- hFrank Trovato, a demographer in the sociology department at the University of Alberta, said it's not surprising to see more people moving to Saskatchewan after such a long period of net outflow of people to Alberta.
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& t3 x' ~; Q2 M3 E$ d"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.
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There are likely a number of factors at play, including the lower cost of housing and greater economic opportunities back in Saskatchewan, but there were probably a number of people who found that Edmonton didn't provide the opportunities they were hoping for, he said.
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"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.
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Terry Hincks, a Regina city councillor and realtor, said Albertans are buying a lot of homes in Regina, either as revenue property or to eventually be their place of residence.
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"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."

4 a$ i3 O$ p% F# ^. CReal estate prices are still much lower than Edmonton -- $130,000 to $150,000 can still get you a decent three-bedroom home -- but are starting to rise. February set a new record in Regina, with 250 houses sold.

AGAINST THE TIDE
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No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

* T( Q& ^0 h- u. Z( PNet loss for Alberta: 128

" J2 j, U- ^, E% T1 CNet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800
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, A7 q. B, R9 w* k) v3 o, nNet inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100
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Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent
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: g! @6 S! B& BPopulation growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent

8 r! u! [6 p4 `; b8 ESource: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

yj151

这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。
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