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

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, March 30, 2007

EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.
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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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6 i+ i4 I% I( L- k2 d3 lAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.
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Cam 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.
5 F& J7 n- C5 b& I3 K+ gPhotograph by : Regina Leader-Post
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5 q  W9 c, P* n% ]That is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.

4 P6 p$ }0 v2 [; _"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.

7 F. o! S6 b4 D1 p& z) Y/ n9 _For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.

: T; x" `6 P2 n% z3 L9 jEven 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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& m( i* E$ p( l  UStatistics 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.

4 Q  c* b) X8 {' f. H& v0 I; U0 @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.

$ ^: e5 h$ U( H4 `9 HAfter 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.
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% i. I9 p! A- g! \4 m1 C"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.
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- Y5 Q' {- u& L; M+ T"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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She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.

. _8 W7 W7 A$ p+ C"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

! d4 M  Y( U" ^$ ]% M/ xVicki 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.

' G# C4 s- G/ L7 d" D) z"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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8 v  x: C, e. X- E! UWhile 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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. ^7 W, s# m$ l' V& R5 ]: w( z% YRod, 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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5 p- h' [2 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?' "

' |4 u7 q" D3 qSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.

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.

; ?' G, p: U1 P"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.

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.

5 y6 n! O2 Y4 q9 U0 u  |"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

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.
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"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

) }' B; l: s4 d" e' u: [" E0 ?& |No. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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* W% Y; L& m) KNet loss for Alberta: 128

1 F  n7 R' Z# ~) R8 |Net inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

9 _6 B' I+ l( s$ T3 SPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

Population growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

& R, |1 J9 D, ]0 u* P) K! V0 WPopulation growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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; f7 l7 H$ y: t& R/ C) l* |2 SSource: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

yj151

这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。