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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
" X3 ^1 A8 g& b2 JFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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3 \, k: p- N6 r. B& {! F9 qMigration 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.
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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. " P* k; y' T4 k2 X" T _
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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. 5 s; g" w% X Z/ @5 p! t. V/ l
0 K- x- p0 i2 QBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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3 i6 R2 \8 }6 |5 z @2 OIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. c/ r3 y; ]: {4 o9 O3 `( ~4 P$ X2 t
; s( A6 x) N5 Q4 B9 ]3 y% |- ~- fIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ' `% H* _# u4 m* X& t
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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. * t( A$ L/ M# g( C4 N2 R
7 ^9 o0 A. w, s“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
# O1 N# `% k* G7 A0 D3 D“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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) G1 J) S; G9 J“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.” / a! {: X$ b; C0 \5 K0 [+ l# q5 t
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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. * g* o! K* a6 i \& l5 z+ S. f
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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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! |1 E1 l: E" J& AThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. $ y% p) c# K" a1 F
$ M- }2 K; x1 V [% z8 qSumner 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. " R+ H9 x" U+ w t- _+ n
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 5 [! T S. H+ g- F1 k- }6 F) y d1 V9 q
1 }& k/ ?6 Y! Q- w5 C+ a2 @# j+ G |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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