ZT - Running back to Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina ...

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
7 \" ?4 ^$ X& ^Published: Friday, March 30, 2007

( e) O) W% x' z6 {+ B6 lEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.

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.
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3 m/ `0 I6 C. ^/ w- o: U  b2 ]1 hAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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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.
/ f# M( Y; L1 n7 fPhotograph by : Regina Leader-Post

4 |9 F1 l( ^2 Q; JThat is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.
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; n5 H1 I* }  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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* p/ J  L3 m- I3 Z( L* x$ O% DStatistics 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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* ~% O# |0 j; }, ~' }% M) }Cam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.

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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3 a  e- K0 ^% C5 y) OAfter 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.

  n/ e& A$ G( o6 |# yThey 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.

) y6 e% d* e/ K- l. r1 A"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."

She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.

"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."
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: G2 _4 J6 q7 L  n1 e* F. b5 E  B; ~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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"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

  i6 K9 P5 v. F$ MWhile 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.

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.
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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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0 Y) i9 }# N1 K- c8 mSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.

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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"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.

4 P" X" C$ I7 Q( X7 qThere 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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"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.
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Terry 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.

! U: {' @9 q1 a1 p, w( I. D4 f4 G" q"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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$ Y9 p/ F4 ^( ~" uReal 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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AGAINST THE TIDE
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No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

2 E$ j$ a/ A" k. L; q& e, V  ~Net loss for Alberta: 128
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Net inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

6 c) w4 z( Q0 n' I1 ?Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

# y0 o$ C  q& w7 EPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

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这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。
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