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

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
; s3 f/ G# C% `( F, d9 g. z# u6 t5 KPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007

. T' k' w4 K. S- ?7 g2 k0 aEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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2 r( G4 _" W6 i0 U9 YFor 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.

. \$ e/ v: K* e) BAccording 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.
, K: l" h: b# gPhotograph by : Regina Leader-Post
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That is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.
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3 G% Q) a5 A3 Q6 t5 Q9 U8 a"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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- f1 k; v3 o9 C# c; r0 M; W7 S( }For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.

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.

; g0 o, R$ M( W0 V8 JStatistics 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.

0 n# b( h1 x( o6 H; h$ P* ]9 HCam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.

7 s; Z4 C4 }, O* qThere 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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$ ^# z: D: J1 z( ["Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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6 r, [& b7 G9 m: D, _; f: c4 mThey 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.

"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.

' u! T- o6 P4 _"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

3 @6 c" r9 z, r; AVicki 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.

: {- s* f0 I7 ]"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

: V# s( O0 v4 y& ]$ bWhile 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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# o% {" o# |; ["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?' "

" D& b, y# }) KSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.

$ y$ O. e6 u( \  ^( IFrank 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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* }- O- b. X1 W( p: u( e"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.

6 c' X0 c+ E5 v$ W2 cThere 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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" Q, ], Q+ f* Y7 E6 _$ e. I"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

  O" n$ c6 _4 V& B' f- v8 k' vTerry 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)."
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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.

1 [" J0 u5 @$ H  C; CAGAINST THE TIDE

& `' ]/ X! |$ Y. R# M5 L' gNo. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838
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% k  @5 N' d" \; C1 f, p9 Q  jNo. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

% T. s1 I" ^; W4 m0 q9 A  Z3 bNet loss for Alberta: 128

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

' ^9 I5 x+ T# C6 OPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

$ i) [1 V; j! j9 S( }Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent

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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