 鲜花( 13)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses/ D. U9 j! L7 W+ w5 s( J- i4 E
From Today's Edmonton Journal
1 [: x8 f! m' G
) j, m8 | P8 F8 ]Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. / s/ z9 x6 q" ^, J
b: o1 O) ^0 M
From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
" h! f+ S# c+ D5 U% Z# m* j: W+ n }
( {) Y# Z0 f( b% hThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 4 g) ]& c+ n+ n. }$ f
' U0 i1 d$ d" }1 fOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
/ W" t9 @5 x" |4 `( ~' R. r5 c! k8 I! W4 e. s1 x
Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
2 f6 {: p6 V/ c* g2 S2 f- f3 O4 S, s2 X+ M1 Z1 C0 R
It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. + @5 ^" K! n, b: T: D
. H2 `# L+ T! j3 T& gIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 7 @9 x( R9 `+ U% L
& s/ `8 ~0 k: e3 z$ ]# |: PATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region.
`3 U5 d! W0 G7 ~; p- w$ ^' w2 Q6 H1 F, h. b$ b
“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 7 Z! `' [3 Q8 c; u: x3 f
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. $ k) v# _1 k1 K& @
: \9 `) T0 X! a, O
“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.”
/ X1 x( Y; x t4 C4 d/ v/ x8 p* {9 t; ~2 V M7 a8 x1 A4 p
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.
s* c! m1 n2 V' f6 p5 P% Y
% A. y4 V. Y8 _5 p7 O/ \- @$ G0 ^Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. $ Y+ o% y k# s, A/ R: U3 u
^$ X- }% U/ ~) R
That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. " j) P2 d2 A9 ?, |
: {& \+ S7 W/ d5 n“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. # F& u8 b& k# }; e6 t: T; \
0 b+ L8 D9 F& _/ s) |, M
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.
1 u# P5 B/ c3 u
6 U4 x! _1 A" q% ]2 E“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ) \: k/ i) c [! {
# c6 X2 u7 h; w" Q9 t
As of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
|