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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses; U- x4 |" S% C3 b- I
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 4 b2 k) h0 \ l+ N% m" J
N4 J; F- W. QFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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0 q4 O9 ?/ [* G1 Y+ w' Q4 L8 MThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 4 Y0 ?$ Y$ w/ O$ E! e
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Only 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.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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8 J; U3 Y/ Q% N1 C, KIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. * F" p5 Z3 ? G2 |% C2 T: R- W" O
% Q7 d. q: b/ G1 t' E: g+ GATB 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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( n; F5 L! u/ k8 q! E“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. . A7 W3 l& Z+ q5 H. ]1 t
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. b7 t0 ~9 ~; X$ 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.” " Z4 t8 Q' _8 q9 y0 _& @/ }
, @5 |. V, s! O; U- JBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. 1 t7 ?6 e0 b6 R& @9 l- W
' O8 s6 q; b4 oStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 4 g2 |2 M9 h( y3 a$ a; e
# _7 r0 V/ A6 rThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 0 x- D4 v/ i9 C- V: _
9 E! t; _! R: E6 Y5 w- ^“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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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. 0 b0 H1 F' `# d7 ^* x1 Z. R, O
) f" H" A8 j* {4 M“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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; l: T& S5 }3 |! Y; ?0 @+ mAs 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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