An economic “thumbs up!”
Posted Jan 12, 2011 3:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s official!
The recession appears to be over in Canada as the country’s 25 largest cities have regained all the economic ground lost in the last two years.
And although we may no longer be in the top five cities for economic activity, things are looking up for calgary.
“The issue is that Calgary has been operating at a relatively high level for the past two years,” CIBC Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal tells 660News. “So it’s very difficult to build momentum and continue to improve this kind of rate.”
Among 25 Canadian cities, the CIBC report predicts Calgary will finish 14th, this year, in the economics derby.
“Given the fact the natural gas prices have not been behaving lately, that’s something that’s limited the potential of the city,” says Tal, who says we won’t edge near the top of the list again until the end of the year when natural gas prices rebound.
Even that point comes with a caveat.
“I’m not sure that you will be back to Number-1 any time soon,” adds the CIBC economist. “You do need natural gas prices to rise in a very significant way, and unfortunately I don’t see it happening. There is simply too much supply.”
With Calgary taking a backseat, economically, Tal says municipalities with strong manufacturing bases will outperform in the coming year.
