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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
5 J/ ]( R6 {$ T9 j0 H9 p/ K6 YPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.

, Y0 U, t9 m' |( W$ O7 L) @. LFor 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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/ n  `* p3 p% pAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.

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"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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- T) t* f- F% i+ D1 r6 X1 oFor years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.

' x% g1 q( N$ O2 QEven 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.

7 P+ V+ y. j+ C' Z! HStatistics 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.

$ Y0 q# I* `9 E2 R# }2 sCam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.
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) Q9 Y$ r0 h/ W2 [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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& [6 Q) F% y1 w( ~; Q0 `& HAfter 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.

: {' m8 ]; a' n: x  bThey 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.

"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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- c* u# [8 c3 w- W7 RShe said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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5 Y  y9 t$ M1 F  j$ ["It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."
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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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2 _) y& H7 Y( q+ s, u! T( Z' I"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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While 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.

  Q- }7 }4 q, W8 d" r% CRod, 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.
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) C, g: c( Y; F8 p: G2 U; U* l"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?' "

0 M; L% O( `9 m+ T0 j# C/ ESo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.

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Frank 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.
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# l* n' r2 T: w"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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3 `$ U' @$ F# YThere 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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# M7 i7 h4 B( ?8 o8 K2 N"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

/ d. D! V& {9 d3 d" QTerry 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.
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& S/ X% p  ~/ z* Q, e7 ~5 h"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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( o7 c+ E% `5 r+ K7 k5 G& ZReal 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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AGAINST THE TIDE

6 J: I2 c1 j# l4 o! @! z) FNo. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838
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No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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" H3 N7 q7 O# ]9 Q0 ?+ W+ }Net loss for Alberta: 128

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

Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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  |" I  R& S7 H, ^/ H; X! USource: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006