New Statscan data on the first quarter population estimates for the country and the provinces shows Alberta’s population reached 3,758,200 at the end of March, an increase of just under 15,500 since the start of the year, double the average growth rate in all of Canada. Net inflows were the highest since 2006.
Prior to the recession, the mega energy project construction boom in Alberta pulled workers in from almost all other regions of the country.
The effect culminated when the global price of oil peaked at US $144 per barrel in July 2008.
In the subsequent trough of the recession, the price of oil fell to only US $33 per barrel and Oil Sands work was cancelled or put on hold. Workers returned to their home provinces.
With oil having now recovered to about US $100 per barrel, investments are heating up again. And the pattern of workers moving into Alberta, looking for jobs, has returned.