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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
4 D: e' y4 D8 N9 EFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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' e; K2 n/ N$ _+ j& WMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ) K& {% P2 ?; n+ }, e* [8 M! O
: X2 P; i# d+ AThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. , |7 k9 c: M# F h- v; `2 |
$ j! T9 e5 W; D* D) MOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 1 r/ |4 \0 d$ P- T, N
2 B) n7 R& l* D aBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ) ] H) Q( I3 d9 Q3 S% K6 f
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 0 s3 l/ u6 i9 {9 [# I5 m# L
8 X. W3 C, {" v$ X5 y/ kIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. & E% ~) `8 {3 h# R
8 i4 l% |3 ~! F1 xATB 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. - N7 s( t* a$ i
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. $ E+ q! O/ ?# b" X; `' c
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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.” : c7 j0 I/ l; c
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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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) s* V2 X( V+ j* vThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 3 c5 \" H* C- O- g9 Y$ X% _3 |
+ T7 w4 q! p! I, A9 H“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. / C! }/ F) E2 X' C
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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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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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As 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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