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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
! A b; Q+ U; b/ L% H g5 FFrom Today's Edmonton Journal5 @. s7 |/ i0 H8 D- A/ D# {
! J, v6 d$ m2 f; }1 V; X& c( QMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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6 D$ o) c; d; v; Y5 T( h9 K8 qFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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That 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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+ b# O1 ^) D3 t4 ~0 E$ ^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. $ p) Q& ?+ {: @* n- _' ~8 B
4 _0 k4 d9 @; v2 f# p$ aBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. # o8 Z/ G0 `/ Z1 L3 G& i
4 V+ B& r, K4 {5 p: cIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 2 q5 a4 |% e% ?9 N+ J9 K9 y
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived.
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% I, _* H6 c. \3 @ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. 5 p( v) g2 _8 { I4 j1 n
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
+ g. ?6 \$ O% |3 F“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. % p$ Y8 c( ]) c( ~( S
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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.” + F K6 J- o" _- v- @& 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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0 ~8 `9 E: L* q4 ]& ?$ ^# mStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. + g6 E9 H7 h& y! 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.
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* F; ?1 F! l0 C& I! b# F, dSumner 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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