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

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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
- [8 d$ d* v6 R  [, [6 v# X. }Published: Friday, March 30, 2007
. c8 S9 e1 R% P. W  n& lEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.

4 [9 o5 @1 f' R2 }# m- \: ZFor 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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! }4 n4 X; }3 h' ]: w; gAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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0 K, I* ~7 r' M6 j"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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% \8 K9 x7 ^. E- ?! SFor years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.

3 i, `0 n  J% _- `2 y; }Even 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.

8 v1 x# Z  @8 ^; p& y- v+ w$ wCam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.

9 |( X# e% a- E: x- `6 IThere 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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$ C& q  C) @8 T/ I4 lAfter 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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"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 $190,000.
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"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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0 n$ s6 `$ h. W# ?. Q- HShe said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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9 l, {, l4 C" D2 g# u: W- G"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.

+ `8 s* j+ L7 a! {8 `, o3 }+ T"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

8 v( A! `- s9 zWhile 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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+ ?( ~* I) x+ X/ D* E4 _! HRod, 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.

% K# h2 x' |5 A- U% e"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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So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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, q$ V( q/ A; C0 M0 |! t7 s, ]8 z0 z  lFrank 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.

  Y7 }- O  [  E/ C, _) l, V* G"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.

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.
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"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

7 C6 v1 D- m7 M) q& RTerry 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.

' b6 X' a7 Z, H"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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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.

msadava@thejournal.canwest.com
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5 U) g- X3 Y' d4 WAGAINST THE TIDE

9 R- E' A9 {* ]1 ]No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

/ \  [/ p1 [% P2 w; qNet loss for Alberta: 128
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0 L$ B4 @. C  r" \/ B$ jNet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

$ I( D2 x  Z& a, S; y# }4 X6 W5 ONet inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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. V7 |, c' k; @" iPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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! i9 d" M4 ~# S. t+ U- ?Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006