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Originally Posted by patm
Edmonton is the jumping off point to more of the operational Oil Sands work. It also has a much larger public sector and research sector.
Calgary is the corporate center. One that is less and less necessary as investment slows and stops.
I don't see Oil demand falling to the point where current production is shut in but I seriously doubt that we see any new expansion outside of the integrated producers flexing some muscle. Therefore I think Edmonton will be more stable than Calgary.
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Yeah, Edmonton is definitely propped up by oil sands development, but in a way that is a bit less volatile than Calgary. Even in this last downturn, its felt like Calgary was hit quite a bit harder. Basically, Calgary's link relies a lot more on expansion and speculation in the oil sands, whereas Edmonton is more linked to keeping things running. As expansion slows/stops but existing operations continue to some extent, the impact between the cities can be quite different. In terms of Edmonton and Calgary however, I would also note that a UCP government and the anticipated policies will likely be quite a bit harder on Edmonton than Calgary.