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May 2012 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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Enbridge braces for for more pipeline backlash as annual meeting nears




CALGARY ` As if Enbridge Inc. could not hear the cries of protests over the Northern Gateway pipeline at its annual meeting in Calgary last year, what will hit the company in Toronto on Wednesday is expected to be even louder.




Public hearings into the $5.5-billion project to bring crude oil from Bruderheim, Alta. 1,172-kilometre west to the Pacific coast town of Kitimat, B.C. ` and from there to energy-hungry markets in Asia ` have since begun, serving as a focal point for criticism. Canada`s largest crude transporter has also opted to hold this year`s AGM in the country`s financial capital, where many groups opposing the pipeline command a strong presence and where the risk of a public relations backlash affecting the company`s share price is heightened.





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Calgary housing market blooming in May




It`s only one week into May but Calgary`s housing market is showing signs of being on a positive trend.




Sales and prices in all categories are up compared with the first week in May a year ago.




According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, total MLS residential sales in the city of 515 from May 1-7 are a 20.61 per cent hike from the same period last year while the average sale price has risen by 3.60 per cent to $464,824.





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Keystone XL Hardisty terminal in Alberta gets green light from TransCanada



As the Keystone XL pipeline becomes a central issue in the American presidential contest, TransCanada Corp. is busy building infrastructure to support it back in Alberta.





The company announced yesterday that it has secured enough interest from customers to build the Keystone Hardisty Terminal project, which is the starting point of TransCanada`s Keystone pipeline system.





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Canada 'most important energy partner,' U.S. envoy says



The United States remains deeply committed to Canada as a reliable energy supplier ` including oil sands production ` despite its delay of TransCanada Corp. (TRP-T43.350.541.26%)`s Keystone XL pipeline.







That was the message delivered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton`s top energy adviser in Ottawa on Thursday.





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Slave Lake: A town rises from the ashes



SLAVE LAKE ` They rise up from the dirt and clay, tall new houses with vaulted roofs and big, wide windows. Blue and red and brown and white, with crisp trim and fresh grey shingles, with wooden decks and stairs hanging off the sides, unfinished.





In the middle of one street, a tree reaches its skeletal black branches into a pale blue sky.





It`s been one year.





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Mortgage arrears rate highest in Alberta



CALGARY ` The mortgage arrears rate in Alberta is by far the highest in the country, according to the CIBC Household Credit Analysis report released Wednesday.





In January, the rate in Canada was 0.4 per cent while in Alberta it was 0.7 per cent.





`This reflects the fact that, on average, homeowners in Alberta are younger and less established,` said the report authored by Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC World Markets. `As well, the pre-recession period in Alberta had seen activity surging rapidly ` leading to a higher percentage of consumers overextending themselves to speculative investment activity and excess.`





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Oil likely to stay high despite good supply: IEA



Tension between Iran and the West is likely to keep oil prices high despite a dramatic improvement in world supply and a big build in stocks, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.





The agency, which advises 28 industrialised nations on energy policy, said soaring global oil supply from OPEC countries and the United States far outpaced global demand, curbed by poor economic activity in developed nations.





The agency said global oil supply rose 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 91 million bpd in April and was now 3.9 million bpd over year ago levels, with 90 percent of the increase coming from OPEC.





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Edmonton downtown arena project now costs $82 million



The total cost of projects connected to Edmonton's new downtown arena has increased $10 million from the previous estimate provided last fall.





According to a new city report, the cost of the land, LRT link and the pedestrian corridor and 104th Avenue crossing is now pegged at $82 million and comes on top of the $450 million budgeted for arena construction.





The $15 million pedestrian corridor was not included in an estimate presented to council in October.





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Hard going in soft ground for LRT tunnel crew



EDMONTON - Metre by metre, Edmonton`s north LRT tunnel workers are clawing their way through soft glacial till and clay toward the basement of the new Epcor Tower parkade.





They`re still west of 101st Street, and the parkade would mark the halfway point to linking with Churchill station, but to say the progress is slow may be an understatement.





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Insatiable appetite for worker's in Calgary's hot economy



It`s happening again. Consistently strong oil prices are driving a resurgence in Alberta`s economy and Calgary is hungry for workers.





Labour supply is the number-two concern of companies surveyed by Calgary Economic Development, says President and CEO Bruce Graham. Their number-one concern is the jittery world economy, but that`s a fret for the global pace of business that drives oil prices, rather than for the local economy.





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Alberta leads country in employment growth



CALGARY ` The bloom on the employment boom in Wildrose country has not come off as Alberta led the country in year-over-year job growth in April.





Statistics Canada reported Friday that employment in Alberta was up 3.9 per cent over the previous 12 months, the fastest growth of all provinces.





There were 10,700 new jobs created in Alberta, up 0.5 per cent on a monthly basis and on a year-over-year basis there were 79,900 new jobs.





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Calgary a head-office hub - second only to Toronto



With a relatively modest 1.1 million people, there`s a reason Calgary has the skyline of a much bigger city.


Calgary Economic Development lists 123 companies headquartered in Calgary that report annual revenues of $100 million or more. Dozens have revenues in excess of $1 billion and, somewhat surprisingly, 12 of that number are not oil and gas companies.


Susan Thompson, business development manager with Calgary Economic Development says `over the past several years, Calgary has emerged as a leading head office centre and Canada`s most concentrated headquarters location. Among Canada`s six most populated Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), Calgary ranks first in head office concentration and employment.`






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Time for Albertans to demand higher oil royalties





When the oil wells run dry, Alberta will once again be dirt poor much like we were before the first oil gusher was erected in Leduc.





Who will our grandkids blame for not getting a fair share of oil boom windfalls and for not saving enough petro dollars when we had the chance? Will they accuse the politicians who caved in to big oil or will they point to Albertans who stood by while oil multinationals made big bucks at their expense?





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Edmonton sees job growth, but concerns remain over labour shortage




According to figures released Friday in Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, 6,000 new full-time jobs created last month dropped the city's unemployment rate from 5.7 per cent in March to 5.3 per cent in April.








"This is very welcome turnaround for the city and bodes well for future growth," said John Rose, the city's chief economist.




Oil and gas, manufacturing and construction sectors saw the most job creation in Edmonton.




Those job creations are part of an overall increase of 58,000 jobs across the country








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Alberta industry attempts to woo Quebec




CALGARY ` As a national debate intensifies over whether oilsands development is in Canada`s economic interest, the Alberta Enterprise Group is striving to win over the group of Canadians that polling figures show are least likely to support growing bitumen production in northern Alberta ` Quebecers.




The industry organization`s trade mission next week to Montreal and Quebec City also comes as Canada`s two leading pipeline companies openly discuss ambitions to move oilsands bitumen to refiners in La Belle Province.





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Flaherty takes Mulcair to task over oil sands




TORONTO -- NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has it wrong on the oilsands, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Friday.




Mulcair told a CBC radio program last weekend the oilsands are artificially inflating the Canadian dollar and hollowing out the country's manufacturing sector.




He called it the definition of Dutch disease -- a reference to the Netherlands and how a natural gas find in that country led to declines in manufacturing in the 1960s.





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Enbridge embarks on $3.2 billion expansion of pipeline system





CALGARY ` Enbridge Inc. announced an ambitious $3.2-billion expansion program Wednesday, promising to increase capacity on its massive oil pipeline system by 845,000 barrels per day within two years.




The Calgary-based pipeline and energy giant, which exports the bulk of Canadian crude oil, said it will be spending $2.6 billion to increase flow on refineries in the United States and in Quebec.






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New office tower planned for Calgary's beltline





CALGARY ` With virtually no available top-class office space in Calgary`s downtown, a proposed new tower in the city`s Beltline district is a response to continued high demand for commercial real estate.




Prism Place, or 11th Avenue Place, by the Prism Group of Companies, will be an 11-storey, 200,000-square-foot building located at 214 11th Ave. S.W.






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Calgary real estate growth leads the country





Calgary is poised to regain its place as Canada's hottest housing market after new data showed the city last month had the country's highest year over year MLS sales growth.




The Canadian Real Estate Association, in a report released Tuesday, said the city's 2,720 MLS sales in April were up 30 per cent from a year ago. Nationally, sales grew 11.5 per cent from April 2011.






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Detailed drawings released for proposed Edmonton Arena



EDMONTON - The first detailed drawings of a `world-class` downtown arena were released Wednesday, but some city councillors are concerned the huge structure will suck the life off the street.





The curving, six-level building features wide corridors bringing people through the facility to a wide Winter Garden pedway across 104th Avenue, which ends in an open plaza on what`s now a parking lot.





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