Calgary best metro economy. Guess who #2 is?
Calgary has best metro economy: report
Another Alberta city stands at No.2
Derek Abma
CanWest News Service
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Calgary was the top area in terms of population growth and the proportion of jobs that are full-time, and it had the lowest level of consumer bankruptcy.
OTTAWA -- Calgary has once again emerged as the metropolitan area in Canada with the most economic momentum, according to a report by CIBC Worlds Markets.
In its semi-annual Metro Monitor, CIBC says Calgary topped the list of 24 of the most populated areas in Canada. It was the second time in a row the Alberta city has been No. 1.
Calgary was assigned a score of 33.2, which was based on indicators such as employment, housing and bankruptcy rates.
"The strong performance of Calgary is not a big surprise given the booming Albertan economy," the report says.
Calgary was the top area in terms of population growth and the proportion of jobs that are full-time, and it had the lowest level of consumer bankruptcy.
Another Alberta city benefiting from the oil boom, Edmonton, was a close second with 31.4. The report says Edmonton is "closing the performance gap with Calgary." Among other things, Edmonton had the fastest rising residential property values in the country.
"Everybody's looking at Calgary, but the labour market in Edmonton is actually hotter," said Benjamin Tal, a senior economist with CIBC World Markets. "If you look at the housing market, (Edmonton's) stronger (than Calgary). If you look at population growth, (Edmonton's) second only to Calgary."
Rounding out the top five spots were Canada's three largest cities, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, in that order in terms of economic momentum.
The report says that while "Vancouver did not excel in any of our sub-categories, it was able to perform above average in many of them."
Montreal was said to have a "notable improvement in labour-market activity," but still lagging in non-residential building permits and housing starts.
Saskatchewan's two biggest cities were listed high, with Saskatoon at No. 6 and Regina at No. 7. Saskatoon was cited as having the best job market and resale-housing market in the country.
Ottawa-Gatineau, which has been one of the better-ranked areas in previous surveys, was in the middle of the pack this time at the No. 12 spot. Tal said the national capital region's momentum has declined do to a slowing housing market, less robust technology industry and struggling manufacturing sector.
Windsor was near the bottom of the list at 22nd with a score of 3.4. Tal said the city was hurt by the state of the automotive sector, manufacturing in general and the struggling U.S. economy that it borders on.
Two areas Thunder Bay, Ont., and Saguenay, Que. were assigned negative scores, minus-0.9 and minus-2.9, respectively. The high-valued Canadian dollar and struggling manufacturing industries were cited as factors with each.
Conspicuous by its absence in the survey was Winnipeg, which Tal said was left out because officials there were unwilling to disclose necessary information.
The Metro Monitor economic momentum scores by city:
Calgary - 33.2
Edmonton - 31.4
Vancouver - 22.3
Montreal - 22.3
Toronto - 17.9
Saskatoon - 17.7
Regina - 16.3
Victoria - 16.2
Sherbrooke - 15.2
Halifax - 12.3
Kitchener - 12.2
Ottawa-Gatineau - 10.9
Quebec City - 10
Greater Sudbury - 9.7
St. John's - 9.5
London - 9.4
Hamilton - 7.1
St. Catharines-Niagara - 6.8
Trois-Rivieres - 6.5
Saint John - 5.1
Kingston - 4.9
Windsor - 3.4
Thunder Bay - 0.9
Saguenay - 2.9
© CanWest News Service 2007
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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