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

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Saskatchewan lures Albertans
! @+ D5 W; W! r2 X& E+ V4 L+ NMike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
- t& V& `3 i) R( \5 U7 J  vPublished: Friday, March 30, 2007
9 s1 G: N. r% fEDMONTON - 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.

2 V  T  ~6 }4 Y' H( h" ?According to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.


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0 h/ o& _+ j7 F9 h, e9 y"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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: {% u5 H! I# pEven 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.

3 N! i3 w+ i/ z3 @5 ^! QStatistics 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.
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Cam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.
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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.
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; @: X: q& l2 N, d5 K# e! U; EAfter 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.

+ G) E5 Z3 C4 {5 p: J/ I! X0 [  s% ?"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.

7 i5 e+ M' H3 \: Y+ zThey 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.

"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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* E, y" V# x: i/ ^8 O) j" ?: qShe 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."

2 m4 y% _" k$ D2 S% qVicki 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.

) N4 l/ `4 C( P; Y7 m- {: f"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.

3 x2 `( P( K+ y( Z. k% y9 F" {. KWhile 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.
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/ V6 Q6 ]0 ^6 @- wRod, 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.
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9 c7 p4 t; {8 G- g"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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6 n7 ?' f* S' r8 O6 w& i0 F7 CSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.

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9 I5 j7 h/ {" W: W5 t' v2 Q3 GFrank 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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- X+ l! K0 K; @) [6 b: B"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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There 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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1 K: B1 `$ F6 r8 f* F- {"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.
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Terry 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.

" v$ K- A# g5 N% g0 Z1 y"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."

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.

msadava@thejournal.canwest.com
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AGAINST THE TIDE
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8 q$ O. p' l4 _No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838

No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710

Net loss for Alberta: 128

Net inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

$ q$ ^8 p+ K; T0 E1 Y8 O; UNet 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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Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006