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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses3 B4 | h x# K: R, D3 p) |
From Today's Edmonton Journal* K8 M f' m1 u+ W9 _( O
% c# A8 w2 J: mMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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/ s1 }9 P g: R A, kFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. : j1 |. p1 B& c# p. Q
$ y4 n" I8 K- |) V8 kThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. - g' A: K# U. T- t/ `
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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. . M: W2 ~# X$ v0 o8 V4 N, n& n0 H- x
+ P/ t; C1 @: l, O6 j: I: p: Q/ HBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 7 v: f! j5 J' j7 L/ ^8 R
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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_' O' r( e5 M& P+ ?& mATB 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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# f- z& K, N6 }6 [. r m1 m; Z! A“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
& g$ a: W% a" e3 n- o“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. , Y$ b' F% G5 Z* b2 T4 g! A- D
7 p9 H' Q" u# [3 a“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.” . q+ E" }* ^1 m' ?/ l$ s; _
2 ^" z% y% e2 s3 YBut 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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, O" J% Z# |7 t8 E9 z. O; AStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million.
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 3 O2 r1 b( S7 l+ F6 M3 d
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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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6 g% d' c8 \& I% y! eSumner 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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/ t- @- V( \% y3 a1 V( l4 }9 ?“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. T$ U# g0 R/ e
3 a' ?- z; T& A- z. B+ wAs 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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