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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
. t) }% W2 G& b6 I3 tFrom Today's Edmonton Journal/ D, w* Z2 }" x4 ~0 U' Z2 {) {/ M
: c1 q( K8 o' Z& N+ GMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. + h8 g K; Z5 y7 L9 g0 k! e3 D
4 P8 u0 `( c8 }! A, e( \From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta. # s! V. ~: ^4 C3 u
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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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5 I4 i& {1 ?9 O* y5 `& SOnly 312 Canadians moved to Alberta in the first three months of the year and Alberta posted net losses in the two quarters before that. $ }. f# E) C! F
8 g, [ d4 h( i9 a8 I3 s( d4 NBetween 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. 3 g7 U, m* d- s" H, W4 S- Z: _
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. ! S0 w8 C, o9 g! q
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. S- X4 `! o/ W* X
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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.
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“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said. ! k7 U9 `% H, z, V8 B, Q
“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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% U3 L" z) U, @! c8 j“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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Statistics Canada said Alberta’s population in the second quarter climbed by 18,538, or 0.5 per cent, to 3.72 million. 3 ], r V* ~+ V& R) I' i# w
; X* }# o) c) N7 |That was the highest increase rate among provinces and includes arrivals from other provinces and countries, as well as births. # n* q3 h9 j; J) h0 u) ?2 b; O
) @3 u$ z; o& O. I6 U“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.
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“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said. & F/ x' Y% L: d$ Y; P6 p9 N: g. s
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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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