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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
( |, b4 g+ a0 I1 u; Y% ~8 aFrom Today's Edmonton Journal
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Migration 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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8 B2 F: X; X) }: ?) _8 EThat 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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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. 9 }9 G7 J( W3 S# J6 I0 B2 \
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. P4 c4 B+ @) n$ J9 Z
! ]! ~3 r1 P8 o0 t0 ]It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95.
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+ [# a" A2 X" sIt followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. & @9 |* U0 V& R; q
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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. 3 o' a; w: [( y K
/ H0 x" Z. }, u1 U“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
8 G2 F s& O. M1 ]6 B: Y“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects.
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1 m, I0 b/ I3 A' k: m“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.” + H+ I7 D4 g2 w
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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 D4 G/ `) k3 q, k: i: `
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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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“Almost half the growth in Alberta came from natural increase, the highest proportion among the provinces,” said the federal agency.
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T) H6 m8 m$ E' 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. ) S, k" L) ~) w0 H( j- E
' z+ {3 j4 t( k% L. P“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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" t( B3 P! o* ^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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