ZT - Running back to Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina ...

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, March 30, 2007
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EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.

For the first time since 1996, more people are moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan than the other way around. It's part of a slight slowdown in Alberta's population growth, which is still increasing at four times the rest of the country.
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; E: ^; H$ p. f6 L0 h9 {( IAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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$ M8 m( _% |( R  ?5 [" \+ hCam and Crystal Hamilton and their 11-month-old son Brady move back to Regina from Edmonton. Now they're in a bigger house and debt-free.
6 d; C" ?/ Z' N3 a4 c5 Q% HPhotograph by : Regina Leader-Post

0 a  r, G9 U3 y8 q9 p; I0 CThat is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.

  T( q5 x* T5 {  O"This is a good batch of numbers," said Roy Schneider, spokesman for Saskatchewan Industry and Resources. "We were bleeding so many people to Alberta for such a long time I'd be happy to see (a net increase from Alberta of) two.
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For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.
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Even in the third quarter of 2006, Saskatchewan experienced a net loss of 994 people to Alberta, and the province launched an ad campaign, extolling the better life of Saskatchewan in billboards popping up around Edmonton.
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Statistics Canada hasn't tracked who these people are, but Crystal and Cam Hamilton, who moved back to Regina at the beginning of the year, might be typical.

) v# l- e% g( M+ y* U0 r2 @! sCam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.

There were no jobs in Regina in his field, so he stayed in Edmonton to work. Crystal followed him here and they married, eventually buying a house in Lymburn in southwest Edmonton.

  `" o, P4 e) C. a! N# N1 G+ JAfter having their son Brady, who is now 11 months old, they decided it would be nice to be back in Regina with family, and that became possible.

( R* l) z% u+ t: w7 ["Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.
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They ended up with a tidy nest egg from the move and managed to pay off their debts. The Edmonton house they bought two years ago for $157,000 got them $306,000, and they built a new, larger home in Regina for $190,000.

& s/ B" J3 J- O  d4 s"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."

- R/ a+ @; t, i/ s0 g5 v( |She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.

"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

% g- F5 m( N  W7 ^2 \% J7 ]* hVicki Delnea and her husband Rod had similar reasons for moving to Regina from Calgary -- the difference in the cost of housing enabled them to pay off their mortgage.
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+ v; T5 N4 L- g3 t+ l0 M4 g* k"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.
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: N5 F" B* Q" V$ d- JWhile she is from London, England, Rod was originally from Regina, and it will be great for her three-year-old, Joshua, to know his grandparents, she said.

Rod, who works in marketing, was able to keep his job and is working out of a home office, which saves him a 40-minute commute.

"Everybody thought we were crazy moving here because there is a stigma against Saskatchewan. When we told them Regina, they said: 'Why?' We said: 'Why not?' "
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So far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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Frank Trovato, a demographer in the sociology department at the University of Alberta, said it's not surprising to see more people moving to Saskatchewan after such a long period of net outflow of people to Alberta.
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/ \. E: I+ P) G"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.
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3 |2 \7 S1 [" [9 ?& Y# [: g4 gThere are likely a number of factors at play, including the lower cost of housing and greater economic opportunities back in Saskatchewan, but there were probably a number of people who found that Edmonton didn't provide the opportunities they were hoping for, he said.
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"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

3 K' R- a! h* L0 O' z# W9 NTerry Hincks, a Regina city councillor and realtor, said Albertans are buying a lot of homes in Regina, either as revenue property or to eventually be their place of residence.

8 N1 i: D- u, y4 s* F% O"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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Real estate prices are still much lower than Edmonton -- $130,000 to $150,000 can still get you a decent three-bedroom home -- but are starting to rise. February set a new record in Regina, with 250 houses sold.
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AGAINST THE TIDE
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No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838
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+ Y! u# }: `7 E4 A3 N8 SNo. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

$ b$ N- J. j# v6 sNet loss for Alberta: 128

7 T& x: b/ G9 _3 mNet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800
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. g  l* N6 ]3 Y. _/ @/ kNet inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100
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Population growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent
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, F! A! ]" }8 Y2 v0 l1 MPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent
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6 j' x, L7 X$ N# |' CPopulation growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent

8 N2 s$ D. D9 f9 rSource: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

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这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。
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