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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
" F2 X3 x8 f) |, u2 d6 ~; A) ?From Today's Edmonton Journal
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' F, S3 J( T- Q2 m- i, i& g% ]$ L3 |Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ; i" L5 Y3 q9 e7 z! @4 ` @) d
" U; G2 y$ }" N! I1 J. H" |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. 2 i H* z" `5 N6 ^
* p* O5 E/ ?; W. x$ I0 y- ROnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 3 i H# v5 U* H* ^. p3 k) Y, H- J) V
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It 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. . k/ j* D' `8 o+ T
: l$ p% e2 t* g6 f5 {' zATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 8 m/ H( S" {0 f) o9 X, [+ k' m
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 4 p* b+ H0 `' H# Y
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. + o- J3 ~( W4 P) ?" g: u& h
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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.”
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/ P1 ^+ t/ b3 m9 gBut 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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$ d. A3 e2 k0 c$ b) n1 |& ]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. 6 y, {0 S5 ^: d9 T6 h6 w* N, w9 q
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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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7 h* q/ Z- I6 _/ fSumner 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. * o! L% L1 ~7 ^3 e2 y. G- g4 \
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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% y' J( j5 d0 O3 YAs 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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