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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
* b9 D' ^7 j3 eFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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% w7 F) a& s( b/ Z# R8 H: C- |3 DFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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1 \% b% o V" k6 |$ H9 R' L7 JThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 6 ~$ e5 y: O$ R+ x
a, {$ S4 B2 M$ s7 @* B- I6 g9 sOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
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9 V- F! t7 J. a. R* G6 P; U bBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ( y) r+ y; d- x5 c# X2 t1 `; H
5 k/ C) ~* O; X+ J0 aIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. # {9 Y+ V; m$ L" Z# B+ r) G
]( S1 d+ H$ ZIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region.
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0 Q3 _- @* N* B8 u! f“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 4 |6 X b. h& c: t5 I) {" N
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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“During the mid-decade, unsustainably strong job prospects drove migrants to Alberta from all corners of the country, although this trend reversed course quickly during the recession.” 4 ?8 g* y4 L- r# c& E) m) t5 m9 ], W
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But he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely.
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Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million.
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* x( M2 R) P# t$ g3 i3 j3 Y4 JThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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! j1 i3 E; W3 t“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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0 e5 m1 G6 {# H# r# |3 eSumner said the province’s strong natural increase was partly due to its population having the lowest median age at 35.8, compared to the national average of 39.7. 7 [4 G9 }! t, y' b$ x
: Q! ~' P5 i2 X“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 5 I. H% Z2 X4 m j! _
7 K5 f! A0 s4 k5 T) KAs of July 1, Canada’s population was estimated at 34.1 million, up 120,800 or 0.36 per cent from April 1. |
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