Population boom hits living standards in Canada's oil province
BNN Bloomberg
Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta saw its economy shrink to 2004 levels on a per-person basis as the region’s population swelled, according to economist Charles St-Arnaud.
Alberta’s gross domestic product per capita fell 2.2 per cent in 2023, the second-fastest decline out of any Canadian province, St-Arnaud, chief economist at the Alberta Central association of credit unions, said in a note to investors. The drop was driven by population growth of 4.1 per cent, well outpacing the 1.5 per cent gain in economic activity.
Rising housing costs — particularly in Toronto and Vancouver — have driven tens of thousands of Canadians to Alberta in search of cheaper real estate. While the influx has bolstered parts of the economy, it has crowded schools and driven up costs for residents.
Manufacturing sales fell 2.1 per cent to $69.9 billion in March as sales of petroleum and coal products and motor vehicles fell, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. Olivia Cross, North America economist at Capital Economics, said the result was not as bad as the early estimate that pointed to a drop of 2.8 per cent, but it still means sales fell 0.9 per cent over the first quarter. "The weakness of manufacturing sales in March suggests that the economy lost momentum heading into the second quarter, matching the message from the earlier preliminary estimates for retail sales and GDP," Cross said in a note. Last month, Statistics Canada released a pair of preliminary estimates for real gross domestic product and retail sales for March that both suggested the data points were essentially unchanged for the month. Driving the manufacturing sales numbers for March was an 8.0 per cent drop in sales of petroleum and coal products to $8.0 billion as volumes fell 6.1 per cent. Sales of motor vehicles fell 7.9 per cent to $4.6 billion in March as sales of motor vehicle parts lost 2.8 per cent. Statistics Canada says retoolings at several major auto assembly plants in Ontario continued to impact auto manufacturing and contributed to the lower sales for the month. Meanwhile, sales of machinery rose 2.9 per cent to $4.5 billion in March. The increase came as sales in all seven machinery industry groups climbed higher, led by commercial and service industry machinery which gained 41.6 per cent. Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 2.0 per cent in March. Total inventories for the month were largely unchanged at $121.0 billion in March, while unfilled orders fell 0.8 per cent to $104.8 billion. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2024.