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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
1 Y* Y: |. }8 H* h2 C4 IPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
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EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers." F) v8 w5 U% D. B
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For 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., G6 z# P! c2 A
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According to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.4 q) H% O/ n; q! K( ?$ T
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Cam and Crystal Hamilton and their 11-month-old son Brady move back to Regina from Edmonton. Now they're in a bigger house and debt-free.
A/ H0 r5 [/ [( s9 Q c0 nPhotograph by : Regina Leader-Post
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2 t4 z/ m; R+ l* B$ S( N( gThat is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.* ~% ~- D" A. v6 p
, H6 B% Y) f8 J" F, [8 V"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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For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.
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Even 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.
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Statistics 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.
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Cam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.
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$ U P# P& E5 V t8 YThere 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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After 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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: l" V8 O3 {* d"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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They 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 $190,000.
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"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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% N1 l# K' i7 |$ C"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."
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6 M: Z5 G( Z: [ v7 sVicki 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.5 k% d" L% l. |/ t2 K, g5 h' P7 U
0 M* y* W1 }0 M/ i1 s l"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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7 `- }! i) B0 b5 n) G# f2 HWhile 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.* G+ a2 L2 m8 W N1 r( r. e
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Rod, 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., `+ o1 D1 H# Z# s- Z, o
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"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?' "
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So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.; y3 F, G: n* ?* @2 ?2 L. }
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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.# L+ T2 r( R- j$ M
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"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.- W/ b9 g3 a; A9 d+ K
) |; G" q: Z+ i" eThere 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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( C- i8 c- ?' J% v2 S"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.! R2 |& N+ I& X+ Y& Y6 o
2 r6 |: @' }/ r# I* ~9 b7 YTerry 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.& {5 O$ K! g: M8 ?. M f- a* o
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"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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Real 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.* A& V; V [& [
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No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838/ Y* O* b. [7 s8 G) n* M* v
5 o- f1 Y) _' K. q# wNo. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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Net loss for Alberta: 128
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0 W& ]* y% q5 T3 G+ n+ CNet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,8006 a: _; C2 e/ |; y% e* S3 O9 @
+ s. B% W0 x1 j# G9 n# RNet inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100* a/ z! a6 d1 Q- O
; M( r# K7 I2 P+ r& S GPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent; k' k/ o+ k+ ^3 S
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Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent- E, ~& Y9 Z0 P; c8 V, x; y1 B
$ I3 ^" M2 g" R* d y% N. CSource: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006 |
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