City’s GDP growth still strong
Five per cent behind only Saskatoon
Regina’s economy will grow by five per cent this year and 3.9 per cent in 2014, according to the Conference Board of Canada. That’s good for second place among major Canadian cities in 2013, after placing second overall last year with GDP growth of 4.7 per cent, the Conference Board’s metropolitan outlook report said Friday. Only Saskatoon at 5.2 per cent will post higher GDP growth in 2013.
But Larry Hiles, president and CEO of the Regina Regional Opportunities Commission (RROC), noted that no major metropolitan area in the country has shown more consistently strong economic growth over the last four years than Regina.
“From 2010 to 2013, Regina has the highest cumulative GDP growth rate in Canada at 20.2 per cent over that four-year period,” Hiles said. “That’s No. 1 in Canada. In those four years, we’ve been at the top — either first or second every year.’’
Hiles added Saskatoon has also performed well over the same four-year period. But at 17.2 per cent cumulative growth from 2010 to 2013, the Bridge City is still behind the Queen City. “Saskatoon is more cyclical than Regina, but they’re on the upswing again.’’
Regina has also boasted impressive population growth, wage growth, job growth and low unemployment during the last four years. “We’ve had the highest cumulative employment growth rate in Canada during the same period at 15 per cent. Our population has gone up 10.3 per cent over that period. Personal income has risen 12.1 per cent.’’ Regina’s unemployment rate is “forecast to average an alltime low of 3.7 per cent this year,” the report says.
“We’ve got a really strong set of fundamentals. We’ve got job growth. We’ve got employment income going up. We’ve got lots of housing starts. We’re seeing manufacturing output continue to grow,” Hiles said.
With major projects on the horizon, like the $278-million stadium and $224-million wastewater treatment plant, Hiles said that growth should continue. “We see the Regina Revitalization Initiative start to kick in, the stadium, the wastewater treatment plant. Those two alone are over half a billion dollars in expenditures.”
And continued expansion of the Global Transportation Hub and the Moose Jaw-Regina industrial corridor will drive investment and growth in the next five to 10 years, he added.
While Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver make up the top five in the board’s latest outlook for 13 Canadian metropolitan areas, OttawaGatineau and Victoria are at the bottom of the list.
Calgary is expected to grow by 3.3 per cent, Edmonton by 4.2 per cent and Vancouver by 2.2 per cent.
The five western Canadian cities stand in contrast with the other eight areas studied, which are expected to growth by less than two per cent this year.
In Toronto, which is expected to be hampered by weaker manufacturing and services sectors, growth will be limited to 1.6 per cent in 2013. Halifax is forecast to post growth of 1.7 per cent, while Winnipeg is expected to grow by 1.4 per cent. Montreal, Quebec City and Hamilton are each expected to grow about 1.3 per cent this year.
Ottawa-Gatineau is expected to expand by a minuscule 0.8 per cent in 2013 due to spending cuts by the federal government, while Victoria is expected to grow by a tepid 0.1 per cent.