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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
( H. U4 {+ J2 k+ o! |From Today's Edmonton Journal
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7 ^: P! S' u- g- N1 oMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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0 q7 z& s, ~! F7 K- tThat means people from other provinces are being drawn by Alberta’s economy after months of dwindling or negative interprovin-cial migration to Alberta. , O0 `% J. e! f7 \
1 \* O, v: `1 mOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that.
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& ]0 e$ h) L% Y, s4 [3 i6 y& Z. X! pBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces.
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. " B3 P4 t5 \+ _- R( h" X3 w
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ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said interprovincial migration is one of the best measures of the relative economic and social health of a region. / Y' E" S; O4 f& W2 O
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 4 d5 Q, K$ q& v% [1 Z0 ~
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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7 n% D1 V( z: _; U' A0 I“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.”
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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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6 K7 D6 L2 \5 |, HStatistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million.
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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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' J d6 s9 Q; P5 p“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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. R6 Z( S2 I5 l+ 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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1 I: b7 @" Z% l8 W, J5 O“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. 6 R7 _8 T ]5 p- L- b! U) V
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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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