Looking back on 2019, we know that it was a slow year for the Alberta economy with real GDP contracting by 0.6 per cent. Despite the economic doldrums, our recent population growth has outpaced the national average, albeit only slightly.

Between January 1, 2019 and April 1, 2020, Alberta’s population increased by 92,479 people for a growth rate of 2.1 per cent. Over the same period, Canada’s population rose by 659,116 people for a growth rate of 1.8 per cent.

With the impact of the pandemic only beginning to be felt in the first quarter, Alberta’s population edged up by 15,101 (0.3 per cent) over the first three months of the year while Canada's grew by 76,221 (0.2 per cent).

We will have to wait until the next quarterly population update to assess how the measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have affected population growth.

In terms of the movement of people within Canada, Alberta posted its 7th net gain from interprovincial migration in a row, with 3,123 more people moving to the province than leaving  during the first quarter of 2020.

The 13,202 residents gained since the streak began in the third quarter of 2018, however, are still not enough to make up for the net loss of 33,914 residents to other parts of the country between 2015 and 2018.

Alberta gained 6,203 residents via net international migration over the first three months of 2020, down 13.7 per cent from the same period last year.

Natural increase (births less deaths) added 5,775 new residents to Alberta’s population between January 1, 2020 and April 1, 2020. This is 3.2 per cent lower than the year before.