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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
% r/ y7 l& A! yFrom Today's Edmonton Journal- d; h1 w: w# @' ]8 ]- H% N& d
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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2 P, G! w" t- g/ S7 Y" ]; A$ P4 tFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. " I6 f! [1 x, E5 f1 C, g u9 c
% w) ^4 O" @: ?" JThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. / _% a7 v6 N9 A1 b- W+ z* x
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Only 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 3 j N7 E+ W4 F
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. : ?. G% I' [9 |$ X
A2 m: f4 k/ c/ r# G5 `$ o+ mIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ; t( T" W) q# `5 a
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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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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 0 I* F2 e2 o3 A; G7 R
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. ; }9 ?% A8 m A- H& t0 A0 M
$ Q0 B6 O8 p J* O“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.”
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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. 3 y; ~4 w) C+ E6 g1 M9 q1 P6 K
8 g. ~# n5 U9 n& Q+ JStatistics 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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' v6 u* `* A' Q# d* sThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births.
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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. 5 k# F# i0 g. [4 p
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Sumner 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. : P: t4 _1 T0 P( }
5 s4 e: t6 E) m! N“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 0 z7 l, N0 N# x8 P7 u
( h5 [( r/ X# J- k8 a$ J9 oAs 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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