Business Council predicts province will remain No. 1 through 2006
Fiona Anderson
Sun
The British Columbia economy continues to strengthen with housing sales heading for a record year, non-residential construction booming and retail sales climbing, according to the latest economic update prepared by the Business Council of British Columbia.
In overall economic growth, B.C. was No. 1 in Canada in 2004 and it looks like that will continue in 2005 and into 2006, said Jock Finlayson, the council’s vice-president of policy.
In Canada, the economic growth profile is tilting to the West, with Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. all outstripping the Canadian average, Finlayson said. Ontario is particularly hurting as it feels the pinch from increased competition from China in the sale of manufactured goods. B.C., on the other hand, is benefitting from increased trade with China through the export of raw materials.
One measure of economic growth used by the council in its update was the number of new businesses.
Between April and June, there were more than 160,000 businesses with employees in the province, up 3.6 per cent from the same period in 2004, the update said, and well ahead of the Canadian average of 1.9 per cent. The number of newly incorporated businesses, with or without employees, was 12-per-cent higher year-over-year.
These statistics, which are not normally included in the measure of economic growth, are further proof of how well the province is doing, Finlayson said.
“It’s fairly compelling evidence that we are in the middle of a fairly strong and sustained upswing in the provincial economy,” he said.
Non-residential construction permits hit a record $900 million between April and June, 74-per-cent higher than the previous year. Job growth, though easing slightly, remained the highest among the provinces, and retail spending continued to climb.
The stronger Canadian dollar had some groups predicting zero growth in the export sector, Finlayson said. But international exports were up about six per cent in the first half of the year compared to last year.
“There is more strength in exports than we anticipated and partly that reflects strong energy, mineral and metal prices and better performance even in some parts of the forest sector,” Finlayson said.
With rising lumber prices, due in part to Hurricane Katrina, there should be some additional buoyancy on the forest export side for the balance of the year, Finlayson said.
“Certainly the scale of rebuilding activity that is likely [because of Hurricane Katrina] is such as to lead to a prediction that there is going to be a surge in Canadian lumber shipments,” he said.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005