For the fourth quarter in a row, more people left Alberta for other parts of Canada than arrived from elsewhere in the country.

According to the latest population data from Statistics Canada, Alberta lost 3,384 people to other provinces and territories over the first three months of 2021. The net loss since the second quarter of 2020 comes to 7,633.

People move around the country for a wide range of reasons, but Alberta tends to be a net recipient when our economy is thriving and vice versa. Alberta’s economy was the hardest hit among the provinces last year and the unemployment rate was above the national average, so the net outflow is not a surprise.

Ontario (-5,629), Manitoba (-2,366) and Saskatchewan (-2,157) also experienced a net outflow of residents in the first quarter while British Columbia gained the most residents (+9,013).

The economic difficulties Alberta has been experiencing since the recession of 2015-16 are evident in the interprovincial migration data. From 2010 to 2014 when the economy was booming, Alberta gained over 120,000 residents from interprovincial migration. From 2015 to the first quarter of 2021, we have lost 26,531 residents to the rest of Canada.

Despite the setback on the interprovincial front, Alberta’s population has continued to grow due to natural increase and international migration.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Alberta and Saskatchewan became Canadian provinces on September 1, 1905.

Today’s trivia question: Between the third quarter of 1961 (when the data series begins) and the first quarter of 2021, how many residents did Alberta gain from interprovincial migration.