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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
% l# {. C% m6 p; fPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
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EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.) _8 c S, R9 Y- q
f. k; L( T a! p9 Q/ S5 oFor 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.% o [9 y. b) ~8 Q) U
' Q: b; X% |% M; \( M4 o0 oAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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( B2 ?% e6 G& g3 C' @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.$ ]2 j5 G- U4 D- v" f
Photograph by : Regina Leader-Post
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That is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.3 F& A: J* }* |- M3 c/ q
6 Z. `) X5 r9 W: ?"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.2 A( i8 X! u. [# Q
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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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. e0 Z* [& T, J: h& JEven 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.3 ? ]7 s& d% Z& ^% @- `
D3 i! [" K& @' UStatistics 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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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.6 E: A: e8 J' y& p
" h$ N7 W6 A2 W6 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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( ?5 I! R6 A1 h- K- r8 ?"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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6 [" k x! W6 o, y8 Y7 Z7 @& }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 $190,000. k' q* P+ J9 M% a' j
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"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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: I2 z3 n" m0 D9 s8 j9 bShe said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.0 G7 x0 g9 I5 A4 \, S$ }. H! K0 Q
6 f7 q a6 S1 R/ T"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."( n" ]2 f; @! I$ S* q0 k
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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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"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.- |' C5 [ v" X2 _9 ~1 ^5 s
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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.9 ]7 Z$ J* y( L; o7 y8 e; g
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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.
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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?' "' }" j: d( c) k7 c3 c. c: z
( V1 T$ W1 S6 c4 Y$ s0 pSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary./ W* g1 L+ b, u3 O- Z% `# L) \
' u; k; X0 u8 e3 {6 a) mFrank 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.
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/ Z$ H$ O. B- v: @1 U: C, x" MThere 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.- L; E) X' b8 ~" z
. ?, ^" s1 e0 a: q* `( ?) `0 rTerry 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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"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."4 |! N' @& \0 j' c1 w" x* u S# Q
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Real estate prices are still much lower than Edmonton -- $130,000 to $150,000 can still get you a decent three-bedroom home -- but are starting to rise. February set a new record in Regina, with 250 houses sold.$ r3 S0 ?6 d/ N. W: N4 t* s
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AGAINST THE TIDE
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No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,8388 k$ L% |# Z. S# }& b
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No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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Net loss for Alberta: 1288 v' o, e6 F; O1 ~7 X( x
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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# Z4 Y: Q) ]. H
' S+ ^' U u$ b8 N/ aPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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, N# W- {, H: ~, j' U9 T4 {% w$ wPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent
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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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