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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
( w, @6 e7 U! K) k1 cFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. ' T5 T, L7 ]1 l$ T. ?- X) r. U& V
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. 1 L6 Q% M2 }% M8 Z
0 P4 Z* U8 c, d* r4 f1 zThat 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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, p; J3 H' c9 L3 xBetween 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.
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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' Q) |) y) r0 j& V" L3 JATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 7 B2 d, O$ L6 L2 p, |/ ^
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 9 R V0 x" w8 F, o: j& ~# c0 P
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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3 k# X4 T1 V# j; @8 T“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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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. ' o8 m' l$ M, u) {5 K/ ]/ w* |7 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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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency. / X& l. o6 k) O% d
" P; f9 b6 _3 c9 k: q: y' tSumner 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. " H4 b4 H0 N1 o$ ?. @
; m v+ i9 A" c: R$ P1 e6 M“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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6 ]4 O; M/ @# S9 o. W* zAs 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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