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

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, March 30, 2007

EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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2 h$ q" l) _/ O* \' j" r& s: U: ^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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According 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.
  e" E4 V# }$ Q  b. lPhotograph by : Regina Leader-Post

& m: m2 Z% }4 eThat is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.
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"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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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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! m" O& ]0 o+ e; l& [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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"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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  {% [- A, H# s" K"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

/ }$ e( H( ~' x4 A4 T0 B+ u. ZVicki 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.

, z! L! I; Y9 F" x"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

) {0 x$ l7 D8 q5 Q% YWhile 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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  _/ k6 b$ b1 T& |- W* fRod, 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?' "

So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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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.
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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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. D* K6 b2 I' }: K( zThere 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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5 r; n' k7 {& m. P# _: P& y"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

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.

"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.

" E/ \7 [8 J7 F: f$ vAGAINST THE TIDE

: J9 Z* y0 L, A& eNo. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838
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: @5 J( o4 _( z" M* nNo. 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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9 q) T, u6 J' i9 W, ]4 }6 b! \Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

5 n) X- ^9 V# DPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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6 X9 R0 V; U* D  u. A+ h1 gPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population 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。
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