December 2011 Alberta Economic Fundamentals
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Calgary resale housing market sees increased activity
CALGARY ` Calgary`s resale housing market saw sales grow in October but the average price dip, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
In a report released Tuesday, the board said the seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of sales in Calgary was 22,572 during the month, up from 22,344 in September and an increase from 19,524 in October 2010.
But the average price fell in October to $402,561 from $408,466 in September. A year ago it was $396,041.
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CALGARY ` Calgary`s resale housing market saw sales grow in October but the average price dip, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
In a report released Tuesday, the board said the seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of sales in Calgary was 22,572 during the month, up from 22,344 in September and an increase from 19,524 in October 2010.
But the average price fell in October to $402,561 from $408,466 in September. A year ago it was $396,041.
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Edmonton economy churning out jobs, city says
EDMONTON - Edmonton led the country in job creation over the last 12 months, says the city`s chief economist.
But that expansion will heat up the local economy next year and may boost inflation and create labour shortages, John Rose said Thursday.
`The metropolitan area of Edmonton has generated more jobs than any other metropolitan area in the country ` 44,900 jobs in the past 12 months,` Rose told an economics conference Thursday.
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EDMONTON - Edmonton led the country in job creation over the last 12 months, says the city`s chief economist.
But that expansion will heat up the local economy next year and may boost inflation and create labour shortages, John Rose said Thursday.
`The metropolitan area of Edmonton has generated more jobs than any other metropolitan area in the country ` 44,900 jobs in the past 12 months,` Rose told an economics conference Thursday.
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Variety part of the mix in planned redevelopment of west Jasper Avenue
EDMONTON - A proposed mixed-use development is set to change the look of the west end of Jasper Avenue.
Demolition started this week on several commercial buildings, such as the former Skinny Legs and Cowgirls restaurant, along the block between 122nd and 123rd Streets on the north side of Jasper.
Developer John Day and his partners have been buying land in the area for years, including several houses along 122nd Street.
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EDMONTON - A proposed mixed-use development is set to change the look of the west end of Jasper Avenue.
Demolition started this week on several commercial buildings, such as the former Skinny Legs and Cowgirls restaurant, along the block between 122nd and 123rd Streets on the north side of Jasper.
Developer John Day and his partners have been buying land in the area for years, including several houses along 122nd Street.
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December electricity rate will rise 46%
EDMONTON - Unexpected power plant failures combined with normal increased demand during December will see Albertans not on a residential contract pay about 46 per cent more for electricity compared with November, Epcor Utilities said Wednesday.
The average homeowner uses about 600 kilowatts a month, so the hike will add $25.09 to the average homeowner`s power bill for RRO (Regulated Rate Option) customers.
The December rate will rise to 13.3 cents per kilowatt hour from the November rate of 9.1 cents. However, the rate in September was 12.4 cents. The electricity rate accounts for about half of a power bill, with the rest comprised of distribution costs and other fees.
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EDMONTON - Unexpected power plant failures combined with normal increased demand during December will see Albertans not on a residential contract pay about 46 per cent more for electricity compared with November, Epcor Utilities said Wednesday.
The average homeowner uses about 600 kilowatts a month, so the hike will add $25.09 to the average homeowner`s power bill for RRO (Regulated Rate Option) customers.
The December rate will rise to 13.3 cents per kilowatt hour from the November rate of 9.1 cents. However, the rate in September was 12.4 cents. The electricity rate accounts for about half of a power bill, with the rest comprised of distribution costs and other fees.
Read the full article here.
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Husky Energy to spend $4.7 billion on Sunrise and other projects
Husky Energy Inc. (HSE-T25.500.180.71%) said Thursday it plans to spend $4.7-billion in 2012, with large chunks of that capital going toward its Sunrise oil sands project, its operations in southeast Asia and bread-and-butter oil and gas holdings in Western Canada.
The Calgary-based energy company plans to spend $610-million on Sunrise, part of a joint-venture with British oil giant BP PLC, as construction ramps up and its 2014 targeted startup date approaches. The first phase of Sunrise will produce 60,000 barrels a day and is expected to cost $2.5-billion.
Read the full article here.
Husky Energy Inc. (HSE-T25.500.180.71%) said Thursday it plans to spend $4.7-billion in 2012, with large chunks of that capital going toward its Sunrise oil sands project, its operations in southeast Asia and bread-and-butter oil and gas holdings in Western Canada.
The Calgary-based energy company plans to spend $610-million on Sunrise, part of a joint-venture with British oil giant BP PLC, as construction ramps up and its 2014 targeted startup date approaches. The first phase of Sunrise will produce 60,000 barrels a day and is expected to cost $2.5-billion.
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Calgary housing sales trending up
Calgary, December 1, 2011 ` According to figures released today by CREBÂ (Calgary Real Estate Board), Calgary residential sales in November increased eight per cent over last year, at 17,538 after the first 11 months of the year.
While sales activity tends to taper off in the winter months, so far this year Calgary area sales remain significantly stronger than levels recorded last year. Single family home sales totaled 962 for the month, an increase of eight per cent from November 2010. Meanwhile, yearto- date sales totaled 12,464, a 10 per cent increase over last year. Over the long term, however, sales remained a tepid 17 per cent below the 10 year average.
Read the full report here.
Calgary, December 1, 2011 ` According to figures released today by CREBÂ (Calgary Real Estate Board), Calgary residential sales in November increased eight per cent over last year, at 17,538 after the first 11 months of the year.
While sales activity tends to taper off in the winter months, so far this year Calgary area sales remain significantly stronger than levels recorded last year. Single family home sales totaled 962 for the month, an increase of eight per cent from November 2010. Meanwhile, yearto- date sales totaled 12,464, a 10 per cent increase over last year. Over the long term, however, sales remained a tepid 17 per cent below the 10 year average.
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Alberta forecast to be only province with increase in housing starts
CALGARY ` Alberta will be the only province next year to buck the national trend for housing starts across the country.
According to an October 2011 Housing Forecast report released Tuesday by Altus Group, only Alberta is expected to see an increase in housing starts in 2012.
Subdued economic growth will take the `sizzle` out of Canadian housing starts in 2012 and deteriorating global economic conditions leading to lower Canadian growth expectations will constrain housing demand across the country, said the report.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY ` Alberta will be the only province next year to buck the national trend for housing starts across the country.
According to an October 2011 Housing Forecast report released Tuesday by Altus Group, only Alberta is expected to see an increase in housing starts in 2012.
Subdued economic growth will take the `sizzle` out of Canadian housing starts in 2012 and deteriorating global economic conditions leading to lower Canadian growth expectations will constrain housing demand across the country, said the report.
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Alberta housing market most affordable in Canada
Alberta's housing market is showing increasing signs of strength because of impressive employment gains and a strong provincial economy so far this year, and remains the most affordable province in the country, says the latest Housing Trends and Affordability Report published Friday by RBC Economics.
"In the third quarter, provincial home resales and housing starts picked up some steam, reaching their highest levels in more than a year," said Robert Hogue, a senior economist with RBC. "This renewed demand for Alberta's housing was partly a result of being an easily affordable market, in fact, the most affordable in Canada."
Read the full article here.
Alberta's housing market is showing increasing signs of strength because of impressive employment gains and a strong provincial economy so far this year, and remains the most affordable province in the country, says the latest Housing Trends and Affordability Report published Friday by RBC Economics.
"In the third quarter, provincial home resales and housing starts picked up some steam, reaching their highest levels in more than a year," said Robert Hogue, a senior economist with RBC. "This renewed demand for Alberta's housing was partly a result of being an easily affordable market, in fact, the most affordable in Canada."
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Modest housing growth forecast for Alberta in 2012: CMHC
Housing markets in Edmonton and Alberta will show modest growth next year, forecasters with the Canada Mortgage Housing Corp. predicted on Thursday.
"We're expecting to see improvements, but fairly moderate improvements," said Richard Goatcher, a senior market analyst with the Crown corporation.
"We saw activity really start to slow down in '08 and '09, and then last year was a year of improvements. We expect those improvements to continue."
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Housing markets in Edmonton and Alberta will show modest growth next year, forecasters with the Canada Mortgage Housing Corp. predicted on Thursday.
"We're expecting to see improvements, but fairly moderate improvements," said Richard Goatcher, a senior market analyst with the Crown corporation.
"We saw activity really start to slow down in '08 and '09, and then last year was a year of improvements. We expect those improvements to continue."
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Edmonton leads Alberta in October housing starts
EDMONTON - Edmonton led the province in housing startups last month, new Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. figures showed Tuesday.
Housing starts totalled 1,250 units for October in the Edmonton metropolitan area. The Calgary metropolitan area, Alberta`s second-hottest housing construction market, added 981 units in the month.
Richard Goatcher, a senior market analyst with CMHC, attributed Edmonton`s performance chiefly to apartment construction. `We had an over five-fold increase in apartment starts,` he said. `We went from 100 starts last October to 550 this October.`
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EDMONTON - Edmonton led the province in housing startups last month, new Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. figures showed Tuesday.
Housing starts totalled 1,250 units for October in the Edmonton metropolitan area. The Calgary metropolitan area, Alberta`s second-hottest housing construction market, added 981 units in the month.
Richard Goatcher, a senior market analyst with CMHC, attributed Edmonton`s performance chiefly to apartment construction. `We had an over five-fold increase in apartment starts,` he said. `We went from 100 starts last October to 550 this October.`
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Energy: A rock and a hard place
Bouncy music and colouring book graphics introduce `A Look Underground,` a short video uploaded to YouTube last year by the Calgary-based Encana Corporation `to educate children about natural gas development.` In the demonstration, engineer Mark Taylor explains the principles of hydraulically fracturing shale and recovering natural gas to a dozen kids ranging from toddlers to preteens. The children stand gathered around a structure built from cupcakes arranged in a horseshoe, its top iced a vivid green and decorated with plastic trees and farm animals. A thick layer of white icing represents the shale layer below. Taylor shows how drillers push steel pipe down deep through the chocolate `earth` to the coveted shale, an operation depicted with plastic tubing. Next, he says, `we basically load it up with explosive charges like big firecrackers, and we blast holes into spots all along the way, so the gas can come out of the white shale here and into our well.`
Read the full article here.
Bouncy music and colouring book graphics introduce `A Look Underground,` a short video uploaded to YouTube last year by the Calgary-based Encana Corporation `to educate children about natural gas development.` In the demonstration, engineer Mark Taylor explains the principles of hydraulically fracturing shale and recovering natural gas to a dozen kids ranging from toddlers to preteens. The children stand gathered around a structure built from cupcakes arranged in a horseshoe, its top iced a vivid green and decorated with plastic trees and farm animals. A thick layer of white icing represents the shale layer below. Taylor shows how drillers push steel pipe down deep through the chocolate `earth` to the coveted shale, an operation depicted with plastic tubing. Next, he says, `we basically load it up with explosive charges like big firecrackers, and we blast holes into spots all along the way, so the gas can come out of the white shale here and into our well.`
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B.C. First Nation buys ownership stake in Enbridge pipeline
Enbridge Inc.`s $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project, hammered by criticism from aboriginal and environmental groups this week, got a major backer Friday when the Gitxsan First Nation announced it is taking an ownership stake in the project.
The Gitxsan First Nation, one of British Columbia`s best-known aboriginal communities because of its role in a landmark land rights court ruling, said it expects to generate at least $7 million in net profits from the joint agreement.
`Over time we have established a relationship of trust with Enbridge, we have examined and assessed this project, and we believe it can be built and operated safely,` said Hereditary Chief Elmer Derrick in a news release that was released `on behalf of the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs.`
Read the full article here.
Enbridge Inc.`s $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project, hammered by criticism from aboriginal and environmental groups this week, got a major backer Friday when the Gitxsan First Nation announced it is taking an ownership stake in the project.
The Gitxsan First Nation, one of British Columbia`s best-known aboriginal communities because of its role in a landmark land rights court ruling, said it expects to generate at least $7 million in net profits from the joint agreement.
`Over time we have established a relationship of trust with Enbridge, we have examined and assessed this project, and we believe it can be built and operated safely,` said Hereditary Chief Elmer Derrick in a news release that was released `on behalf of the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs.`
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Alberta hiring as national unemployment rises
Alberta bucked national employment trends in November, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
The country shed 19,000 jobs last month, the agency said, bumping unemployment up from 7.3 per cent to 7.4 per cent nationwide. But in Alberta, the jobless rate shrank from 5.1 per cent to five per cent as the province added nearly 3,000 jobs in the month.
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Alberta bucked national employment trends in November, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
The country shed 19,000 jobs last month, the agency said, bumping unemployment up from 7.3 per cent to 7.4 per cent nationwide. But in Alberta, the jobless rate shrank from 5.1 per cent to five per cent as the province added nearly 3,000 jobs in the month.
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Welcome to Edmonton, a city that works
Is Metro Edmonton one of the last bastions of North America's rapidly shrinking middle class?
It certainly feels that way. While good jobs dry up and middle-income earners face a financial squeeze across much of the western world, Edmonton stands out as something of an anomaly.
Even as the eurozone risks self-destruction, the U.S. is saddled with high jobless rates and huge deficits, and Eastern Canada's manufacturing sector shrinks, it's still possible to find a good job, buy a home, and dream the middle-class dream in Alberta's capital region.
Read the full article here.
Is Metro Edmonton one of the last bastions of North America's rapidly shrinking middle class?
It certainly feels that way. While good jobs dry up and middle-income earners face a financial squeeze across much of the western world, Edmonton stands out as something of an anomaly.
Even as the eurozone risks self-destruction, the U.S. is saddled with high jobless rates and huge deficits, and Eastern Canada's manufacturing sector shrinks, it's still possible to find a good job, buy a home, and dream the middle-class dream in Alberta's capital region.
Read the full article here.
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Calgary housing market demand strong for 2012: Re/Max
CALGARY ` Fuelled by low interest rates and job security, demand for residential real estate in Calgary is on the upswing, says the RE/MAX Housing Market Outlook 2012 report released Tuesday.
And the real estate firm says Calgary will be a Canadian leader next year in the annual growth rate for MLS sales.
By year-end 2011, 22,500 homes are expected to change hands, an eight per cent increase over the 20,801 sales reported in 2010, it said.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY ` Fuelled by low interest rates and job security, demand for residential real estate in Calgary is on the upswing, says the RE/MAX Housing Market Outlook 2012 report released Tuesday.
And the real estate firm says Calgary will be a Canadian leader next year in the annual growth rate for MLS sales.
By year-end 2011, 22,500 homes are expected to change hands, an eight per cent increase over the 20,801 sales reported in 2010, it said.
Read the full article here.
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Husky Energy 2012 capital expenditure program focuses on oil sands
Calgary-based Husky Energy is planning a $4.7 billion capital expenditure program for 2012 that builds on the momentum achieved over the past year to increase short-term production and continued execution of its mid and long-term growth initiatives.
`This has been a year of significant progress as we achieved a number of milestones in our growth plan, delivered a solid increase in production, strengthened reserves replacement and reported strong financial results,` says Husky CEO Asim Ghosh.
`Our business strategy is on course and demonstrating its ability to deliver value to shareholders. Our 2012 program will build on that progress as we remain focused on execution.`
Read the full article here.
Calgary-based Husky Energy is planning a $4.7 billion capital expenditure program for 2012 that builds on the momentum achieved over the past year to increase short-term production and continued execution of its mid and long-term growth initiatives.
`This has been a year of significant progress as we achieved a number of milestones in our growth plan, delivered a solid increase in production, strengthened reserves replacement and reported strong financial results,` says Husky CEO Asim Ghosh.
`Our business strategy is on course and demonstrating its ability to deliver value to shareholders. Our 2012 program will build on that progress as we remain focused on execution.`
Read the full article here.
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Garbage, sewer fees up $87/year on average as council sets rate
EDMONTON - The cost to flush your toilet and toss out a bag of garbage is set to jump 13.6 per cent next year after councillors approved a boost Monday in utility budgets. The biggest change is the $5.36 average monthly increase for storm and sanitary sewers, which need an infusion of cash for long-term replacement of aging pipes and neighbourhood rehabilitation work.
Waste management will charge typical single-family homeowners an extra $1.86 a month, or $1.21 for apartments and condos, partly reflecting the elimination of a subsidy as well as continued spending on new facilities.
The total 2012 city fee hike for a typical customer is projected to be $87.
Read the full article here.
EDMONTON - The cost to flush your toilet and toss out a bag of garbage is set to jump 13.6 per cent next year after councillors approved a boost Monday in utility budgets. The biggest change is the $5.36 average monthly increase for storm and sanitary sewers, which need an infusion of cash for long-term replacement of aging pipes and neighbourhood rehabilitation work.
Waste management will charge typical single-family homeowners an extra $1.86 a month, or $1.21 for apartments and condos, partly reflecting the elimination of a subsidy as well as continued spending on new facilities.
The total 2012 city fee hike for a typical customer is projected to be $87.
Read the full article here.
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Devon wins approval for $1.3-billion oilsands project
CALGARY ` Alberta regulators have approved the $1.3 billion third phase of Devon Energy Corp`s Jackfish oilsands project, one of several such developments in the northern part of the province at which the company plans to quadruple output over the next eight years.
Devon said on Monday it aims to start construction next month at Jackfish, located south of the oilsands hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta, with third-phase production of 35,000 barrels per day targeted for 2014.
The company said it is also working to push the second phase of the development to its full production rate of 35,000 bpd by late next year. Phase 2 is currently operating at 13,000 bpd.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY ` Alberta regulators have approved the $1.3 billion third phase of Devon Energy Corp`s Jackfish oilsands project, one of several such developments in the northern part of the province at which the company plans to quadruple output over the next eight years.
Devon said on Monday it aims to start construction next month at Jackfish, located south of the oilsands hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta, with third-phase production of 35,000 barrels per day targeted for 2014.
The company said it is also working to push the second phase of the development to its full production rate of 35,000 bpd by late next year. Phase 2 is currently operating at 13,000 bpd.
Read the full article here.
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Enbridge invests $145 million U.S. to transport Bakken crude oil by rail
CALGARY - Oil pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. will be investing $145 mil-lion US to transport North Dakota crude by rail car next year to Midwest markets as its U.S. subsidiary rushes to accommodate burgeoning production from the Bakken formation.
The Berthold rail project is the latest in a series of expansion projects the company has announced to accommodate the region's booming oil production.
Enbridge Energy Partners said Tuesday it will move 10,000 barrels of crude oil per day by July through the proposed rail car loading facility with a second phase adding 70,000 bpd by early 2013.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY - Oil pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. will be investing $145 mil-lion US to transport North Dakota crude by rail car next year to Midwest markets as its U.S. subsidiary rushes to accommodate burgeoning production from the Bakken formation.
The Berthold rail project is the latest in a series of expansion projects the company has announced to accommodate the region's booming oil production.
Enbridge Energy Partners said Tuesday it will move 10,000 barrels of crude oil per day by July through the proposed rail car loading facility with a second phase adding 70,000 bpd by early 2013.
Read the full article here.