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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
! q P8 Y/ F, u5 kFrom Today's Edmonton Journal7 `. ]6 h& R u7 ^
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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" p$ q8 ^: ^3 s. n% e5 _That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta.
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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. 6 b/ e& `9 j2 f+ ]: U
( _. A! t2 S$ d9 z( S; nBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ) E. i3 y/ W, ?# s) h
! h. t7 J! q) V" A+ @5 KIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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0 `$ _- o' j9 HIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. & t5 d! m& l+ i: ]
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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. / n4 v9 Q# C0 X" M
t; B! P) D4 G“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ! Y" a; P7 o5 U2 L& T% `$ T
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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; N: c9 e, [* N6 d% k“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.” ) U0 n6 ~4 E) F
$ G/ I6 j1 K6 H4 HBut 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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# I' k7 ?+ W+ l: [Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 2 F' Q ?4 w" P7 [5 b
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. + [; j o% P+ C, X5 W: y
7 W3 ?( I) k6 z+ A“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. + w) E% m% \# P0 V
+ l" V8 a6 R, ?4 K' k6 v6 U7 C“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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9 f* s" O& [; L9 ^, {9 B9 n1 xAs 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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