ZT - Running back to Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina ...

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Mike Sadava, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, March 30, 2007
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, ?3 y# ^5 u% ^" @EDMONTON - Albertans are starting to be Saskatchewan-bound in growing numbers.

; ?9 u' S* Z5 iFor the first time since 1996, more people are moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan than the other way around. It's part of a slight slowdown in Alberta's population growth, which is still increasing at four times the rest of the country.
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/ r) U  b' w" y* \1 KAccording to Statistics Canada, 128 more Albertans moved one province east in the last three months of 2006.



Cam and Crystal Hamilton and their 11-month-old son Brady move back to Regina from Edmonton. Now they're in a bigger house and debt-free.
# P' ?  X9 g+ S8 ?$ M4 oPhotograph by : Regina Leader-Post

That is not a huge number, but it is creating smiles in Regina.

7 v# k  [; Z6 t3 |3 l"This is a good batch of numbers," said Roy Schneider, spokesman for Saskatchewan Industry and Resources. "We were bleeding so many people to Alberta for such a long time I'd be happy to see (a net increase from Alberta of) two.
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For years, between 2,000 and 4,000 Saskatchewan residents per quarter would head out to Alberta in search of the good life.
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Even in the third quarter of 2006, Saskatchewan experienced a net loss of 994 people to Alberta, and the province launched an ad campaign, extolling the better life of Saskatchewan in billboards popping up around Edmonton.
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Statistics Canada hasn't tracked who these people are, but Crystal and Cam Hamilton, who moved back to Regina at the beginning of the year, might be typical.
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Cam moved here eight years ago to take a course in architectural drafting.

0 `) f5 Q( X, k# vThere were no jobs in Regina in his field, so he stayed in Edmonton to work. Crystal followed him here and they married, eventually buying a house in Lymburn in southwest Edmonton.
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After having their son Brady, who is now 11 months old, they decided it would be nice to be back in Regina with family, and that became possible.
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" o% a0 _* C+ ?5 N2 E% U* L"Because the economy is so much bigger in Saskatchewan now, there are jobs again," Crystal Hamilton said.

; u3 Q( w: d- s& x# z  \They ended up with a tidy nest egg from the move and managed to pay off their debts. The Edmonton house they bought two years ago for $157,000 got them $306,000, and they built a new, larger home in Regina for $190,000.
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"We're financially set now," she said. "It was perfect timing and turned out to be good idea in many ways."
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She said they liked Edmonton, other than the traffic, and made a lot of friends here who they will miss.
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1 z& q; E! ]8 e! m% Z, K' N"It was sad to move, but it's also good to be back."

9 p- X4 p7 `9 T6 U7 mVicki Delnea and her husband Rod had similar reasons for moving to Regina from Calgary -- the difference in the cost of housing enabled them to pay off their mortgage.
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5 a8 H2 x4 |& v3 b8 d$ K$ b"In the end you have to figure out your priorities, and for us it was not being on the hamster wheel," she said.
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While she is from London, England, Rod was originally from Regina, and it will be great for her three-year-old, Joshua, to know his grandparents, she said.

- w; z7 b3 _1 k5 W0 a, a: [Rod, who works in marketing, was able to keep his job and is working out of a home office, which saves him a 40-minute commute.
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"Everybody thought we were crazy moving here because there is a stigma against Saskatchewan. When we told them Regina, they said: 'Why?' We said: 'Why not?' "

2 i/ T: v0 d2 [4 Y9 x6 jSo far Delnea loves the city, finding her neighbours friendly and not missing the traffic of Calgary.
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Frank Trovato, a demographer in the sociology department at the University of Alberta, said it's not surprising to see more people moving to Saskatchewan after such a long period of net outflow of people to Alberta.
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' {: k% L  J# S( z. ?6 p"When you see there's a lot of people moving to a place, there's also a countercurrent back," Trovato said.
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/ \, d- V8 W4 x4 UThere are likely a number of factors at play, including the lower cost of housing and greater economic opportunities back in Saskatchewan, but there were probably a number of people who found that Edmonton didn't provide the opportunities they were hoping for, he said.

"Not everyone who moves to a province is there permanently," Trovato said.

" p2 d. B& R* V# M# i9 OTerry Hincks, a Regina city councillor and realtor, said Albertans are buying a lot of homes in Regina, either as revenue property or to eventually be their place of residence.

; ^) \) Z4 H3 F1 q. U! k% t+ A"It seems that every time I pick up the phone it's either 780 or 403 (area codes)."
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: K  y- J8 @, J! ^Real estate prices are still much lower than Edmonton -- $130,000 to $150,000 can still get you a decent three-bedroom home -- but are starting to rise. February set a new record in Regina, with 250 houses sold.

# w  V& a9 e- \8 _) v/ r' KAGAINST THE TIDE
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No. of people moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan: 2,838
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/ W' ]; W4 s$ N( j: A* VNo. of people moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta: 2,710
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Net loss for Alberta: 128

$ X5 o) h5 R. R$ x: f9 x! tNet inflow of migrants to Alberta from the rest of Canada: 11,800

. M! `1 ^0 I; G% e* `Net inflow of migrants in the fourth quarter 2005: 17,100

4 X3 a: ^$ C% A  s1 SPopulation growth Alberta: 0.65 per cent

6 O- q" E4 F% H( y+ Z% I% y% vPopulation growth for Sask.: 0.21 per cent

Population growth for all of Canada: 0.14 per cent
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Source: Statistics Canada figures for fourth quarter, 2006

yj151

这是些有先见且有勇气的人们。