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

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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
' |/ D! @$ u2 v% B& ^3 C$ APublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
5 ~5 w0 M! A% X7 S7 o; c" T8 G/ MEDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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0 Q( h" R; }/ N1 C2 T6 MFor 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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- W% C6 K* _( z  VAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.


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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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4 W' \+ v0 p$ Q5 b0 HFor 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.
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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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) a1 l+ c7 f1 B- ^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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) U+ P  ?7 B8 g1 g! }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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) }+ o* W. G+ G: ]8 O8 s"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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: a' K3 r, u+ J5 b* |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.

"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.

* b' ^4 ]# G9 U1 q"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

* N. K3 }& t# A3 Q, P3 |1 OVicki 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.

$ f4 c  y* X1 E* k) ]2 cWhile 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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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.

. z; T, |' N# b8 S" @+ A( W8 K7 T"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?' "

+ f% B8 k2 b: FSo 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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' [+ ?* q% q% A% i" a"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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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.
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"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

2 a/ j2 O, x9 hTerry 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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7 U( J8 p; I1 v; G  d2 c"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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( k2 t& @* A$ M* B0 kReal 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.

  P+ C9 o; V$ Z' R9 H2 t+ Amsadava@thejournal.canwest.com
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AGAINST THE TIDE

No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

1 t8 z- p: k& i. ~8 r, Q+ [9 R) VNo. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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% ?6 Z: g( l0 A3 ^Net loss for Alberta: 128
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5 B& l! n8 }5 ?% R$ S1 z2 ONet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800
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" L# e5 c* Y7 P! `Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

  y; `1 ~) u4 y% R& M$ z" VPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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2 X( b4 a8 m+ d2 I! p- Q, MPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

; \! ?4 t0 c) ^8 L& H8 b2 H% ]: kPopulation growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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1 c( ^  ~5 J( Y) k- y5 J0 _7 k* g& `Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006