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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
) ~+ |: Q/ |" O$ {2 P! Z& g3 O( iFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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# }) h. Q: F3 {& j! UFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. % \4 z' f) v! w% M! T# e/ b7 H
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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.
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& F' B. |$ x1 G5 ^ Z# n3 u+ H, ?' }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. ! j9 z6 d2 B ~0 R% j
6 q8 k" Q( ^! `8 F: l, e" x- K6 w" tBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. " m5 |! `: N5 S8 o
6 U1 Z5 R% M, W0 j" Q9 A$ JIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. p' S1 H3 F' g2 }) K
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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. 7 s- `. |. i0 C7 N& b# a5 e6 q
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ! i7 c0 L/ N# B/ q
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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5 s7 b2 \' q1 ~, w6 w“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.” ! m1 z% h% J I0 h( x6 o
, |, `, O6 ?9 c6 O9 @' r8 |, TBut 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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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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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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8 K! s0 t0 W' R% _“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. ) s$ o, m% ?- D
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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. : l" ^4 s9 F7 P! R8 g1 H
3 |7 m6 }6 c) i. w( Z4 s“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 8 J( T5 I+ [. _& K# b
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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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