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

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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
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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For 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.

) c% V% C# Y' EAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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5 W6 Q! a( ~( X" D3 K7 y$ _  t7 H"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.

4 P# H% U4 L' n5 {5 l6 t  J# hEven 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.

1 M+ U5 J' F" k, EStatistics 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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Cam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.

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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After 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.

3 l9 r+ Q1 [; B8 I"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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They 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.

  X; N1 I0 B  \) B: {7 d3 K% ?"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.

: b- k+ h2 Z9 ~3 l  u"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

Vicki 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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$ U  {- Y; }2 MWhile 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.

6 @4 ^' x2 f# H3 `7 d# u' @: ~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.

  w1 \- x+ E0 e0 m! _"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?' "
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% \/ `# n- O9 CSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.


, Q' E5 O* v: yFrank 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.

"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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- R2 v  \& j( a0 uThere 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.
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"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

Terry 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.

0 q5 E& i+ K4 g- {) Z"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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" z4 u* B- C: `6 i3 `  X: l( kReal 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.
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msadava@thejournal.canwest.com
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5 A7 c& d# `+ h  b1 FAGAINST THE TIDE

No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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Net loss for Alberta: 128
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Net inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800
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Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100
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Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

3 `) ~5 {, k6 V/ O, ?. gPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

3 ?6 Q! z$ t  f& P9 s# n% IPopulation growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent

  \/ T1 b4 I3 W' w& \Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006