Saskatchewan's premier was in Calgary Thursday to sing the praises of his province to former residents.

Alumni of the universities of Saskatoon and Regina were wooed with free food and door prizes Thursday night while Saskatchewan premier Lorne Calvert described the increase in wealth, jobs, and opportunities in his province.

"When I became premier of Saskatchewan the opportunities that exist today didn't exist, to be fair," he said.

"Today we've reversed some of that. There are opportunities now in research and development, there are opportunities in the trades and the economy, there are opportunities to invest that didn't exist even five years ago."

Calvert is also pitching more affordable housing and lighter traffic in his province in hopes of striking a chord with those frustrated by the downside of Alberta's boom.

Some heading home: Stats Can

Between 2000 and 2005, nearly 64,000 Saskatchewan residents moved to Alberta while only about half that number came the other way, according to Statistics Canada.

But there are signs that gap could be shrinking.

Statistics Canada numbers for the third quarter of 2006 show 3,700 Albertans moved to Saskatchewan. About 4,700 left for Alberta during the three-month period, but the 3,700 number was 1,300 bigger than it was in the third quarter of 2005.

Saskatchewan's population on the whole grew by 473 people during the period, the largest increase since 1995.

Mixed feeling for transplants

Many Saskatchewan transplants at the reception said they never wanted to leave in the first place.

"I wasn't settled on going anywhere — it was just wherever opportunity arose first, that's kind of where I went," said Nicole Wilson.

"I took chemical engineering at the U of S. I moved in May 2005 basically because I couldn't find too much in work in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan," said Cameron Konecnik.

But some former Saskatchewan residents, including Arlen Babcock, said while leaving home was tough, leaving Calgary could be tougher.

"I'm a civil engineer and the work out here is exactly what I wanted to do. The housing market is phenomenal, which means there is a lot of land development and a lot of civil engineering work to be done."

With files from the Canadian Press