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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses, X" `$ }0 W7 c% M: F
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ! X4 ]" c- X+ m3 P( N! C
$ J# E: [6 U7 P& }From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 2 Z. {% [; t3 ` b7 Y E
8 r* x" G: A' ^; hThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. & S" B5 C6 n( H) T
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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.
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l! y$ v6 V' b3 _) e% k5 d7 T+ kBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. B+ @' h3 m2 Z1 `
. n- B9 u, @. L! zIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. ! A9 b1 l8 |8 o
0 ?0 L8 F+ S: MATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. : ?, r0 b; o: L8 u- H
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
* @& Z# W3 i1 Y9 ~“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. : I+ W2 x C% u. G
! [9 n6 l @4 Q) C4 u* @“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.” & [" n" z0 D; ~
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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. : M9 V* X, y. t1 ?+ f
: G2 K: I) ~; d. B, {Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. ; I- ?4 _8 c3 S( `: u4 J. f
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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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7 h3 S' d9 i3 S% q0 g- B“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. + h) M% P1 x- @# {- D
" l# b" N. P/ G6 |) ]9 \+ YSumner 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. * S; {3 S' q: S/ }
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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4 V& z; |/ F5 Z5 q# y; Z+ DAs 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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