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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
1 a. @- ^: V. h* [5 nFrom Today's Edmonton Journal x; p- \& u- t
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 9 B. a, \$ n' ^5 u5 X
. v1 E$ J$ _; G' k; OFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. - Z+ h, p& G* y: `; ^" s7 T
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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. $ [4 O7 n0 P) | z4 G 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. 7 b8 M! u, j( E# s; E9 H
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. : Y& G5 s% }& c
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 8 I3 J8 b O2 i' \/ N* {/ z5 ?* d
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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. ' v N% Q5 M. s! D# e; S& ]
8 e) ^( ]8 K) R; n: N7 Y+ j“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
% x' @4 u6 s/ ^) I% U+ g“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.” ' p( l y4 `7 j5 M& b5 R8 ^
% u9 h ^% O' t6 r" |" m; sBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely.
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# l- T$ ?: a, M; I% vStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. ! p- a+ [$ D' o$ |9 B! e; G- o
* T, ~( W& L' @That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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# c3 Y' V) k' |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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% _" \* `$ K; x, N' L“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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# M9 e8 G' }# w+ oAs 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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