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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
" ^# {8 T' t2 j% VFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. - Z l! \6 z/ a. N
4 Y4 t, q& ^% ~: B- oFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 0 f$ k' u( w$ x& F7 r
$ x4 `4 j. g* P% H6 ? V2 H+ ?* p ]That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 9 E; ]" d2 ?) v$ y
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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. ; k& W7 ]) B6 d2 L% X2 N' D
4 o& t1 J# I3 E2 `Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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" g- L5 y9 A; s9 M& XIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 6 s( Z% s% x* D( D
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. 5 X: ?0 ]- _& E$ w- O3 _6 s" s6 P% }
. L* t: ?/ @- }# u; hATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. * |, c# q2 E* m+ L
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. + q7 T; W) P# n# z" Q n6 Z& A
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. 0 i3 l' `3 A$ [
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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.” 1 r; P J+ X9 `% S$ P6 S- I
. H4 ^, P( z) eBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. & J; i& U# V) D7 P. ]
' O& p: A5 {# f( y, p- HStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. $ b P! U1 F3 S$ L
0 Z* o/ P ~: O5 X: b; VThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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! @% @9 r: |9 Z1 q; u L“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. 6 E0 Q- I0 n* }& C7 M# x6 P0 m5 P
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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4 p& Q% h, b% L7 A! I5 hAs 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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