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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses( W/ H# ]1 o# u4 Q1 b! Y
From Today's Edmonton Journal9 O0 x2 \, C# Q
5 W# X5 A" k( a1 W' RMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. 3 F: _' G5 Y$ s2 G9 c, O) p1 I
2 ?, c5 k4 F' qFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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0 _1 e2 s4 w% ^" A0 C" w8 h4 Y& ?That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta.
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) L( V" c! H$ d8 q/ R/ I2 {" L" B, rOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 2 ]1 ]5 H, k' a# @/ g+ Z0 K1 b
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ' c' ?; S- R3 q1 t" e
5 P( }6 u s: lIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. , i# n' y0 m$ f$ ]: ?. r! y
# W% [+ P- A* u3 l/ c' g8 bIt 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. # \) O9 E% S% U
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
& g, C8 H" q t" O( l“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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7 ?* Z7 V& h# V# v/ {“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.” - O/ K# b; }# S$ L+ l
! ]" g& a1 N( r. }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. / q5 V8 t4 D5 w1 z% g, A( N
0 T: A9 P# Y0 W+ g% \; |Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. * [' z2 i2 }& ]8 J3 h: S- |
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That 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.
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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.
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3 N4 }1 h% ~0 ~3 x4 a1 h/ R" H“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. . i' H7 i' v' ?) I; g9 D) J
, d- ^( \) n0 n( J1 k/ C+ IAs 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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