January 2014 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

A brief overview of diversity in business in Calgary





Talk of a talent shortage in Calgary is a little like talk of the weather. There is always something to say and it is ever-present. The solution (or at least part of the solution) is tapping into our own diverse population.





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[Ally]

Wages for young men in oil patch rose five times faster: StatsCan





The average hourly wage for a young man in Canada`s oil-producing provinces rose 21 per cent from 2001 to 2008, more than five times the increase than in other provinces, Statistics Canada reported.








In a study published online Monday, StatsCan reported that men aged 17 to 24 in the three oil-producing provinces -- Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador ` were more likely to be employed and less likely to be enrolled at a post-secondary institution than their peers in other provinces.







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[Ally]

Calgary's office construction market biggest in Canada





CALGARY - Calgary has surpassed Toronto as the biggest office development market in the country, says a new report released Thursday.








Avison Young`s 2014 Canada, U.S. Forecast, which covers the office, retail, industrial and investment markets in 36 Canadian and U.S. metropolitan regions, said nearly 27 million square feet of new office space (48 per cent pre-leased) has been announced or is under construction across Canada, equating to five per cent of the existing inventory.





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[Ally]

CREB's MLS system to include residential rental listings





CALGARY - The Calgary Real Estate Board will launch February 4 residential rental listings on the MLS system.





Lisa Roberts, manager of member programs for CREB, said the initiative will allow local realtors to list rental properties and receive national exposure through the system.





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[Ally]

More growth forecast for Calgary housing sales and prices





CALGARY - A slowdown in net migration this year should help ease some of the housing demand pressure in the city but overall MLS sales are forecast to rise by 3.6 per cent with prices going up by 4.28 per cent, says the Calgary Real Estate Board, which officially released its annual forecast Wednesday morning.





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[Ally]

Apartment building boom in Edmonton area will add 5,000 rental units





EDMONTON - Apartment buildings are sprouting up across Edmonton at a rate not seen in recent memory.








There are 46 apartment developments under construction in the region, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE. Those projects will add about 5,000 new rental units to the market.





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[Ally]

Skinny homes the latest big idea in housing





EDMONTON - Skinny sells when it comes to lattes and jeans, but will Edmontonians buy skinny houses?








Local developer Doug Kelly believes so, having just listed two of Edmonton`s first wave of `skinny homes` on Friday.





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[Ally]

Alberta homebuilders enjoyed their busiest year since 2007





EDMONTON - Total housing starts in the Edmonton region for 2013 were up mostly due to a busy multi-family sector.








There were 14,689 total housing starts for the Edmonton census metropolitan area, up from 12,837 in 2012, according to figures released Thursday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC).





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[Ally]

The split personality of Alberta's job boom





Todd Hirsch is the Calgary-based chief economist of ATB Financial and author of The Boiling Frog Dilemma: Saving Canada from Economic Decline.








It's a well-known truism about economic indicators that one month does not a trend make. That's encouraging news for Canada's job market. If the loss of 46,000 jobs in December were to mark a trend, the country would be in serious trouble.





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[Ally]

Calgary, Edmonton home sales down on a month-to-month basis





Home sales in Calgary and Edmonton saw an increase on a year-over-year basis but saw a decline when compared to the previous month, the Canadian Real Estate Association says.





Canadian home sales also slid lower on a month-to-month basis for the third consecutive time. The national average price was up 10.4 per cent to $389,119.





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[Ally]

Redford off track on LRT expansion





EDMONTON - Premier Alison Redford is making a mess of Calgary and Edmonton`s top infrastructure priority, LRT expansion.








As it now stands, the City of Edmonton is putting $800 million toward the new Mill Woods LRT, but the $1.8-billion project can`t get going unless the province and the federal government pay for the rest.








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[Ally]

Calgary insurance costs rise, rents expected to follow suit in 2014





Calgarians seeing massive increases in home-insurance prices so far in 2014 are just the tip of the iceberg and the costs will likely be passed on to renters, as well, according to industry representatives.





Crossroads resident Larry Leach said he was shocked to open his policy renewal package and see how much his insurer now wants to charge, in the wake of last year`s devastating floods.





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[Ally]

Lethbridge downtown turnaround





Downtown Lethbridge had a 40 per cent vacancy rate, as the new millennium arrived. Fourteen years later, city council learned Monday, the vacancy rate has dropped dramatically to 10 per cent and the city centre has become Lethbridge`s major employment centre.








That shows the impact of the Heart of the City initiatives and the business revitalization zone`s programs, council was told.





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[Ally]

Alberta manufacturing sales reach $6.4 billion





CALGARY - Manufacturing sales in Alberta rose to $6.4 billion in November, which was a 7.1 per cent annual hike, says Statistics Canada.





The federal agency reported Tuesday that sales in the province were also up 0.6 per cent from the previous month.





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[Ally]

Calgary real estate: What's behind the post-flood financing drought





Seven months after Alberta's devastating floods, home buyers and sellers are finding themselves flailing in uncharted waters as financing dries up.





Increasingly banks and insurance companies ` which are conservative by nature ` are clamping down on financing in Calgary and other residential markets where properties were affected by the June flood by making blanket decisions.





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[Ally]

Pipeline work flowing in Canada





January 22, 2014 - Just south of Fort McMurray, 60 km west of the Saskatchewan border, is a key part of what`s recognized as the oil capital of Canada. Alberta contains nearly all of Canada`s oil-sands (crude bitumen) and much of its conventional oil reserves, accounting for 98 percent of the country`s entire production.





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[Ally]

Alberta to host World Economic Forum's climate change gathering





Alberta will play host this spring to a World Economic Forum on energy and climate change.





The event, to be held April 24-25 in Lake Louise, will bring in more than 100 global leaders from the worlds of business, academia, and government.





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[Ally]

Calgary region sees decline in regular Employment Insurance receipts





CALGARY - The Calgary region experienced in November the fourth consecutive monthly decline in the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits.








Statistics Canada reported Thursday that 9,630 people in the Calgary census metropolitan area were regular EI beneficiaries during the month, down 350 people or 3.5 per cent from October and down 100 people or 1.0 per cent from a year ago.





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[Ally]

Immigration reveals our redneck image to be a myth





As a newspaperman, it was difficult not to be impressed with the shock and horror job Britain`s Daily Mail did in capturing the ever-growing rift in that country over immigration.








Starting this year, the U.K.`s borders were opened to a further selection of central Europeans, this time from the relatively poorer countries of Romania and Bulgaria. It follows the contentious inflow of other nationalities, most prominently half a million Poles, that`s causing a widening backlash against immigration among natives.





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[Ally]

Alberta workers most confident in economy





CALGARY - Alberta workers are the most confident in the country when it comes to the strength of the Canadian economy.











A new study, conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Randstad Canada and released Thursday, said 35 per cent of workers in Alberta were more positive this year than last year about the overall economy followed by 32 per cent in British Columbia.





Read the full article here.