Alberta stays on upward swing in interprovincial population gains

Alberta's recent return to the positive side of the ledger in interprovincial migration after years of losses is getting more pronounced, according to the latest population figures from Statistics Canada.

Alberta had a net interprovincial migration gain of 1,862 in the first three months of this year, with 15,203 out-migrants compared with 17,065 people arriving from other provinces.

The statistics reveal that 1,304 of that net gain came from Saskatchewan and 605 from Newfoundland and Labrador.

The turning point came in the third quarter of 2017, with 743 more people arriving than leaving for other provinces, the federal agency says.

In the second quarter of 2017, there had still been 4,914 more out-migrants than interprovincial newcomers.

Many factors to Alberta's growth

An associate professor of economics says there are a lot of sectors and factors that are pointing upward.

"So manufacturing activities up, export, oil production, wages, employment, and so on, are all on the rise, and now we're also seeing that in terms of migration," said Trevor Tombe of the University of Calgary.

But it's a challenge to figure out exactly who is coming and who is going.

"Different people are in different circumstances and it's really not possible for us to know who these individuals are, what their characteristics are. I couldn't begin to tell you, maybe they're all retired people moving to B.C.," he said with a laugh.

Alberta's position, he said, is not the same as its neighbours.

"It's also worth noting that this is in contrast with the two other major oil producing provinces of Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador. They're both seen increasing net outflows," Tombe said.

"Saskatchewan as well, in the first quarter of 2018, was the second largest net outflow, and the first largest net outflow was the third quarter of 2017. So Saskatchewan is still seeing large and growing numbers leaving relative to coming. Same with Newfoundland."

'Good place to invest'

David Bowker moved to Alberta in early 2018 from Ontario after purchasing a roofing business.

He says he chose Alberta for many reasons, including the economy.

"I thought it was a good place to invest. I know the economy is down right now, but I think it's in a swing where it's going to start coming up so things are a little cheaper to purchase at the moment."

More than 10K immigrants arrived in first 3 months

Nationally, Canada's population growth rate was 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Both Alberta and Ontario surpassed the national rate slightly, posting gains of 0.4 per cent.

The population of Nunavut grew by 0.7 per cent.

Alberta had 6,753 more births than deaths in the first quarter — there were 13,799 births and 7,046 deaths.

And in the first three months of 2018, a total of 10,627 immigrants arrived in Alberta.

• MORE ALBERTA NEWS | WestJet flight makes emergency landing in Calgary
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS | Snowboarder Mark McMorris chosen as Stampede Parade marshal