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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses6 |$ p' V( m9 h7 I3 M2 E9 ~$ X
From Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ( S6 X2 I$ r2 s* G9 r2 I& I4 X
2 c: H8 M( G9 f; ?8 H1 Y# j) fFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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# i* s. x+ ]1 hThat 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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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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9 V/ C4 r; ?+ C. ~% ~8 r! FBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. ( U: w5 c( w7 Y! b4 x
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. + y. O K3 }; i; ~4 r
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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. X8 ]# j4 H, i. i7 UATB 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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3 e- h3 S9 T: z# v7 V$ e“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
1 _' A( w. [, u' [& _5 S' L7 \“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. . O. D" r! K# a0 K' ~3 V. W" Y2 ^
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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.”
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! r1 ?: k" x1 }1 dBut 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. ) j& n7 l- s4 D6 D4 s% I5 c1 b
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That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. 3 M. Y$ Q5 W3 [2 b" X
F! J; J( ]# N4 A) p1 j“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. 5 l( {7 U4 ]& ^! k! C
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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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