Drop in oil and loonie shifts growth from West to East
Consistently low oil prices could dramatically alter the economic landscape of Canada in the coming year and beyond, with Alberta slipping into a “mild” recession as a weak dollar helps lift the manufacturing hubs such as Ontario.
That pattern is already being reflected in a slowdown in the oilpatch- fuelled housing market in Calgary and Edmonton, in addition to an anticipated knock- on increase in unemployment rates in the province.
In a report released Tuesday, titled The Tables Have Turned, economists at CIBC World Markets said recent data show “just how sharply the growth leadership is likely to swing.”
Most startling, perhaps, is the likelihood Alberta will go from the leading economic power house in 2014 to recessionary levels this year.
“Alberta looks headed for a mild and temporary recession,” said economists Avery Shenfeld and Nick Exarhos, pointing to a 0.3- percent decline in 2015, compared with 4.1- per- cent growth in 2014.
As well, they see growth in Saskatchewan — the country’s other major resources- heavy province — suffering in 2015, managing an advance of only 0.8 per cent this year, after one per cent in 2014, but likely avoiding an outright downturn.
However, Newfoundland and Labrador — also reliant on energy revenues — could contract more significantly this year, by 1.3 per cent, and in 2016, by one per cent.
In contrast, Central Canada “should enjoy a small upside surprise,” thanks mainly to a healthy U. S. economy, CIBC predicts, along with a lift in exports from a weak Canadian dollar.
The Ontario economy will expand 2.8 per cent this year, up from 2.1 per cent in 2014, and add 2.8 per cent next year, according to CIBC. Quebec should add 2.4 per cent this year and 2.6 per cent in 2016, after a restrained advance of 1.8 per cent in 2014, the bank said. At the same time, British Columbia will continue its mid- two per cent growth trend.
“That will translate into commensurate shifts in the employment picture, alleviating pressure in some areas — where, if anything, workers are currently in scarce supply — and lowering the jobless rate in Central Canada, where it has been stuck above the national average.”
For example, Alberta’s jobless rate could rise to an average of 6.8 per cent this year, from 4.7 per cent in 2014, the CIBC said, while Ontario should see its unemployment level fall to 6.6 per cent from 7.2 per cent last year.
CIBC expects overall growth in Canada to be around 1.9 per cent this year, down from 2.4 per cent in 2014, and rising by 2.5 per cent next year.
Contrast those with the Bank of Canada’s 2.1 per cent outlook for this year and 2.4 per cent in 2016 issued in January, when policymakers surprised markets by cutting their benchmark lending rate to 0.75 per cent from one per cent, where it had stood since September 2010.
The central bank’s GDP forecast is based on an average oil price of $ 60 US a barrel in 2015 and 2016. Crude was trading above $ 53 on Tuesday, a gain on recent sessions.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar closed near the 81- cent level.
The regional shift is also evident in the housing market, where the slowdown in Calgary and Edmonton helped pull down national sales by 3.1 per cent in January from December and by two per cent from a year earlier, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday.
“As expected, consumer confidence in the Prairies has declined and moved a number of potential homebuyers to the sidelines as a result,” CREA president Beth Crosbie said.
Total January residential sales in Calgary were down 35.5 per cent from a year earlier, while Edmonton fell 22.7 per cent, Saskatoon lost 24 per cent and Regina was off 6.9 per cent.
“There’s little mystery behind the sudden reversal of fortune for the national figures, as sales in Calgary and Edmonton — and Saskatoon — fell more than 20 per cent from a year ago, in what had been the hottest markets in the country,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.