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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
) K- C$ | u+ @0 eFrom Today's Edmonton Journal* X2 K1 n1 T- }- y
: d. J' Y; c; [ vMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. - L# {! V$ T0 `2 o# p# x) M! a
1 t, \6 C7 n! s1 d/ H4 D& [From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. ' o S2 Y+ ?' p7 I# I; r) U4 K+ P7 `
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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. 5 g9 s8 v- ] v; W# J R( H
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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. & ~0 {7 D! v* c7 g8 O' u/ }
' a' F9 j( B6 g2 W5 [9 d1 m& @7 cBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. % u2 S/ C/ [. L: ]$ k' C
" e4 L% q+ q3 o1 p& eIt was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. 8 y7 @. x% M; B& j: n& P
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. . I( [. n- K# A( O* n" \
* Q% a+ f' G9 g$ k2 d: J, UATB 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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/ m# Z" i4 Z9 `9 a1 O: p9 h“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. 1 D6 n# P% I1 M9 d
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. $ R/ F% y* w9 R: k, V0 u& H
1 u* m3 z: W# y4 D' s“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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" ?; _* z( ^. K0 K0 l* oBut 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 l' _: F1 B- ZStatistics 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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' Z( r% A" h7 v+ QThat was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. * w. T! ^; s& |
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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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5 {& k% t* N- {5 I+ ^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. 7 N9 G# c# Z4 ^5 M+ J% t
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. ; ^$ j# n7 O4 k$ P( e
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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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