ZT - Running back to Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina ...

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, March 30, 2007

EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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: f" z1 q# E6 I' f. O; e+ UFor the first time since 1996, more people are moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan than the other way around. It's part of a slight slowdown in Alberta's population growth, which is still increasing at four times the rest of the country.
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( q6 G+ @$ T( b6 t8 U7 {According to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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9 p0 I  Q. }. Z3 a0 Z- ?Cam and Crystal Hamilton and their 11-month-old son Brady move back to Regina from Edmonton. Now they're in a bigger house and debt-free.
Photograph by : Regina Leader-Post
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1 v) T% E5 n# n3 bThat is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.

"This is a good batch of numbers," said Roy Schneider, spokesman for Saskatchewan Industry and Resources. "We were bleeding so many people to Alberta for such a long time I'd be happy to see (a net increase from Alberta of) two.
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For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.

" K6 ?3 m8 `- f3 T8 BEven in the third quarter of 2006, Saskatchewan experienced a net loss of 994 people to Alberta, and the province launched an ad campaign, extolling the better life of Saskatchewan in billboards popping up around Edmonton.
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Statistics Canada hasn't tracked who these people are, but Crystal and Cam Hamilton, who moved back to Regina at the beginning of the year, might be typical.
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# O+ C8 v  ?, L5 L! Z  SCam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.
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There were no jobs in Regina in his field, so he stayed in Edmonton to work. Crystal followed him here and they married, eventually buying a house in Lymburn in southwest Edmonton.
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  {& `- M# y; s: }1 dAfter having their son Brady, who is now 11 months old, they decided it would be nice to be back in Regina with family, and that became possible.
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- p; c3 m6 e7 H$ g"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.

0 {0 v) A' d4 _2 y8 `. O4 h8 X6 lThey ended up with a tidy nest egg from the move and managed to pay off their debts. The Edmonton house they bought two years ago for $157,000 got them $306,000, and they built a new, larger home in Regina for $190,000.
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"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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: k3 G% j/ @# d8 t) s& e"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."
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  K* ~$ ^' y$ u: r- X) e2 dVicki Delnea and her husband Rod had similar reasons for moving to Regina from Calgary -- the difference in the cost of housing enabled them to pay off their mortgage.
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"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.
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% c+ G7 s8 D4 C/ A0 d0 q) N* PWhile she is from London, England, Rod was originally from Regina, and it will be great for her three-year-old, Joshua, to know his grandparents, she said.
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Rod, who works in marketing, was able to keep his job and is working out of a home office, which saves him a 40-minute commute.

7 R' `  n: O3 r"Everybody thought we were crazy moving here because there is a stigma against Saskatchewan. When we told them Regina, they said: 'Why?' We said: 'Why not?' "

So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.

Frank Trovato, a demographer in the sociology department at the University of Alberta, said it's not surprising to see more people moving to Saskatchewan after such a long period of net outflow of people to Alberta.
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"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.
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" R, d8 {2 i$ l& T0 t+ ~There are likely a number of factors at play, including the lower cost of housing and greater economic opportunities back in Saskatchewan, but there were probably a number of people who found that Edmonton didn't provide the opportunities they were hoping for, he said.

, r" s7 C0 ?+ }"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.
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3 R0 A5 E/ P5 d1 D. u5 FTerry Hincks, a Regina city councillor and realtor, said Albertans are buying a lot of homes in Regina, either as revenue property or to eventually be their place of residence.

"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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" @4 D6 @2 c! X# ?Real estate prices are still much lower than Edmonton -- $130,000 to $150,000 can still get you a decent three-bedroom home -- but are starting to rise. February set a new record in Regina, with 250 houses sold.

. p% z3 T! m" @5 yAGAINST THE TIDE
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, Q8 {% C( o0 d1 c) uNo. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838
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No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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' L% o7 |) Z+ R$ [9 lNet loss for Alberta: 128

Net inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

0 @/ y% p/ z- ?" R( RPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

9 ]# h# ?/ x' k' ePopulation growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent

: u. `6 N( B( k, S' C7 hSource: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

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这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。
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