Interprovincial migration to Alberta has been rising by 10,000 or more people for five consecutive quarters
Thousands of people enjoy Calgary’s Lilac Festival on June 5, 2022. Alberta’s population is again growing faster than any other province in Canada, according to figures from Statistics Canada.Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia
Alberta’s population is yet again growing faster than any other province in Canada, with more than 17,000 people moving from other parts of the country from July to September, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada.
The migration is largely from Ontario and B.C., which have been experiencing a loss in population for more than a year. In contrast, interprovincial migration to Alberta has been rising by 10,000 or more people for five consecutive quarters — a first since such data began being recorded.
The main driver for the rise in the number of people is non-permanent immigration, which surged by 10,638 in the third quarter.
The trend is also observed across Canada, where the total number of non-permanent residents climbed to 2,511,437 from 2,198,679 — the greatest quarterly boost going back to 1971, when data on non-permanent residents became available.
The new numbers bring the population in the province to 4,756,408, a 4.3 per cent rise in the past year.
“The gain in non-permanent residents was mostly due to an increase in the number of work and study permit holders and, to a lesser extent, an increase in the number of refugee claimants,” the report stated.
The news comes as Alberta shutters its Alberta Calling campaign, which the UCP government launched in August 2022 as a way to attract newcomers by boasting of “bigger paycheques” and “smaller rent cheques.”
A second round of the campaign was reintroduced in March before the announcement to end the program was made during a telephone town hall last week about the upcoming provincial budget, where Finance Minister Nate Horner called the campaign a success.
“We think Alberta called and many, many answered, but it has taken up a lot of the vacancies,” Horner said. “The housing market’s very tight.”
Population growth impacting housing affordability
Experts have been warning that the strong pace of population growth in Canada is eroding housing affordability, given the country has struggled to ramp up home construction.
The strong population growth is also posing a political risk for the federal Liberals, who have seen their popularity tank amid affordability concerns.
Earlier this month, Bank of Canada deputy governor Toni Gravelle gave a speech on the effect of immigration on the economy and inflation in particular.
Gravelle acknowledged there are many benefits from this rise in immigration, noting it has helped grow the economy, expand the workforce and counteract an aging population.
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But he warned it’s also adding pressure to a housing market riddled with challenges, including zoning restrictions and a shortage of construction workers.
Construction workers build homes in the Livingstone development on the northern edge of Calgary on Tuesday, December 19, 2023.Gavin Young/Postmedia
“This jump in demographic demand coupled with the existing structural supply issues could explain why rent inflation continues to climb in Canada. It also helps explain, in part, why housing prices have not fallen as much as we had expected,” Gravelle told the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The sentiment was shared by Frano Cavar, the director of government relations at the Calgary Construction Association, who said the issue of rapid population growth is a “catch-22”, where immigration helped inject 13,000 jobs into the industry last year but also strained existing infrastructure.
“You do need immigrants, certainly to fill the (labour) gap right now,” Cavar said. “But more increasingly, immigration increases the infrastructure demand. And the question is, are we able to find a balance?”
‘Big swings of boom-bust’ typical for Alberta: professor
However, drastic swings in population are baked into Alberta’s economic cycle, said Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University.
“We have these big swings of boom-bust, not just in the economy but everything that flows from that,” Bratt said.
That includes housing, health care and schools. But despite record-breaking population growth and reports of people choosing Alberta for cheaper housing prices, Bratt said the rise, which accelerated in 2022, is linked to a hike in oil prices — which touched $91 per barrel in February of last year.
As the search for ways to tame population growth continues, Bratt said he finds it difficult to reconcile the conversation around reduced immigration by federal conservatives and Premier Danielle Smith’s ambition to roughly double the province’s population from 4.7 million to 10 million by 2050.
“How do you go from four and a half to 10 million in a couple of decades, if you don’t have immigration into Alberta?”
Even then, immigration is a federal mandate that cannot be controlled by the province.
“Once an immigrant comes into, let’s say, Toronto or Halifax, because of the charter, they have mobility rights, so they could still end up in Alberta.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
