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

ZJDX

Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
# Y4 X1 f" `* C' b0 s8 R6 U! C! t7 @. h  ePublished: Friday, March 30, 2007

5 Z7 Z, ~) x$ T  ^' P+ FEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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7 f/ e8 g" V1 DFor 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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) V% w( |3 ^3 R% NAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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8 _6 a" j, q) R) A+ \. O: v; X9 P: rCam 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.
Photograph by : Regina Leader-Post

That is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.

+ R" u0 \/ f! V7 I% E9 M8 @"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.

% t! F; L( R" S5 hThere 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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4 }/ p! A- h: i"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.

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 $190,000.
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"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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% u' {, T* A1 ^$ \* DShe said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."
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* h' Z- I# l" |: Y" [/ u( QVicki 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.

2 P) j! r  }% n( @"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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" u% h& ]9 w, c) F% `' N( T: n3 G( LWhile 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.
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% x* v: F1 e0 I2 P$ B( n, nRod, 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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* G2 {4 @) i2 e' B% K- e"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?' "

So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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) U4 d4 [# }/ e- W1 VFrank 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.

"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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8 V0 p" k$ t4 H2 O! [There 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.

; g9 g6 Q" f/ q"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.
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; S; S1 k  S; m6 j$ f, D1 t$ OTerry 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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! w# M* ]4 j1 r7 s4 L! p"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."

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.

AGAINST THE TIDE
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+ m' {# N" b: q" K  |, ENo. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838
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' j. I0 X! @8 t$ \No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

Net loss for Alberta: 128
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Net inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800
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& c$ {1 q7 R. s6 K. mNet inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

! w/ j9 Q; d* {3 I) z  nPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

/ s, M- r4 y, H2 V. c5 T, J, bPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent
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+ P* e9 S* A3 x8 z" n( y' EPopulation growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent

Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

yj151

这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。