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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
4 Z! k4 ^( p! H/ s) C/ WFrom Today's Edmonton Journal* x9 |* A/ H+ Y" n' c6 }
: X1 [1 a( W: n. k$ [+ w4 MMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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; u) w" ?8 O6 K6 G6 _From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 0 I0 B6 f( j5 ^3 m* L
/ i& Q' A: n0 z e" mThat 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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. x8 v9 Z3 e( {" vOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. % h' @$ L# {9 M% j+ @, m* ?: X0 P
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. : y- W: |- y/ @( Z/ c$ ?/ S
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It 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. - ~8 P& ~$ a. t
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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. 3 c2 K3 \& i* A# L7 {. D. A4 O
' Y0 F- D5 R3 { k$ A“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
5 g+ ]5 X: y/ j( e“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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6 ?. m+ f* N$ Z- s. z. O5 Y6 ?9 {“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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7 u# X' o5 F1 o* t9 j8 o* T8 lBut he said a still-recovering job market in Alberta means a quick return to the pace of migration seen during the boom is unlikely. 0 n1 H: y% s9 m
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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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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. ; H, H1 ?) G, S$ p9 ^( a
+ Z$ s) d/ e0 I# u“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. + V, }8 R/ B' p/ B: r1 k" ^& ]
" s+ u+ |' h0 J3 u- E“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. , w, ~% d8 ^% @4 x5 ?: e6 i
0 f& T- o3 V& U9 u6 Z! M mAs 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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