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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses6 F0 Q9 J: S" Z5 e* T! a, A; w
From Today's Edmonton Journal4 O0 k4 A" g! t$ X( s5 n' Z
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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5 t; H* n5 l% MFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 3 y+ {% }* W1 @
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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. ) y* w9 \1 [# B& N: O
1 S. }% D J) D* mOnly 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. . R/ p+ ~: o! _. P
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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.
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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.
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
3 \3 I; Q7 [0 \7 k, M& ^$ r“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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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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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. : k) ]0 H3 b7 a) c, D" p0 \
- J* _/ P" o5 A. VStatistics 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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& @5 O% ^7 f+ p9 ~That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ( T' v- T: F& a, w
1 A# L* v" i: q \' a% a s“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 4 Y7 m7 j$ h. h' J$ B
/ R+ a7 _1 K$ g$ T, ?+ M$ A9 ?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.
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8 \$ }! ~0 _8 g1 C, y2 R“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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3 s8 f9 i* v5 ^3 V; ~- j! nAs 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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