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Gain of 2,820 from other provinces follows losses
: {7 U0 U; U2 X4 a+ x: ]% b+ tFrom Today's Edmonton Journal) @ I/ T' s5 y V1 B3 {* R: \+ X! x
8 w" v1 Z4 e8 f0 `" y2 JMigration to Alberta from other provinces jumped in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
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+ L# w4 J4 H: m1 [From April 1 to July 1, a net total of 2,820 Canadians moved to Alberta.
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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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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. 2 k; F. l, v/ s; b# \; R
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Between 2009 and this year, Alberta lost 2,200 people to other provinces. : D- j5 Y# a2 A2 X& q4 x
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It was the first time Alberta had lost more people than it gained since 1994-95. + n2 p* B' t$ b$ A
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It followed a peak during 200506 when 45,800 interprovincial migrants arrived. T3 ^# v2 X- u
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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. ( b! _& H; `0 @, q
$ E' i) z/ N5 ` r4 Z$ F8 C“Alberta just experienced its most solid quarter of interprovincial migration in a year,” Sumner said.
- B; p" F6 r9 u G$ c5 D) X“The main factor driving Canadians to move between provinces is jobs and job prospects. , g/ D; ]% L/ n# o) ~
9 A0 C4 G! s6 z% P) \“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. " z3 X; W' A9 N& b2 k$ ]
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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.
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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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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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. p, m" X2 c$ y0 A$ N6 x“More young people means more babies,” Sumner said.
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f: r2 F" U; Q0 Y% g e- G$ mAs 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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