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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
$ ]1 ~9 F# j1 s4 x# H9 gFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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( E( I! M1 R# [: EMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. & f' D# v! |1 y
4 W% v6 `3 L4 u: v3 a+ v2 [. YFrom April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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6 y# Q* S. T. W( }That means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. 0 i: G6 w! ^* |$ i/ H; F6 L
6 }9 @8 l0 ~1 X+ z2 tOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. 5 M& P) z- H" [$ I n7 B) C
+ G8 T8 F+ H1 I: p2 bBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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6 m/ V' h, R3 s( p* c, e. YIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ! J* _& b U/ z( S8 O
# t: o8 P4 [3 dIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. - L; ^+ i! {$ W; I+ S7 c
3 y, I1 R3 O* m9 ]ATB 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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0 m1 Z0 ?' r) R: N“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
% X ]8 J0 B4 F“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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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.” & y4 w: M u* t, n
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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. ( n: M( e3 I5 g7 {
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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. % m# L" l+ Z9 w1 @0 x
/ f. |; F3 i- G8 ^3 PThat 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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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. : }/ r& G H- B! y7 h
# F# x& m, `) E v8 q0 ]8 K& P: l, Y“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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