Welcome to Alberta sign. (Image: Paulbradyphoto | Dreamstime.com)

By David Opinko

Alberta & Saskatchewan expected to lead economic growth in Canada

Aug 25, 2022 | 10:10 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Alberta is forecast to once again be one of the country’s main economic drivers.

That is according to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada (CBC), which expects the province’s real GDP to expand by 4.9% in 2022.

They say Alberta will have the second-highest level of economic growth behind Saskatchewan’s forecast growth of 7.2%.

The oil and gas sector will play a big role in the provincial economy, albeit at a less rate than what was in the CBC’s last forecast.

“GDP in the sector contracted an estimated 3.6 per cent during the first quarter of 2022, on the back of a decrease in oil sands production,” reads a portion of the report from the CBC. “But we presume that things got quickly under control during the second quarter.”

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Producers in the oil and gas industry will continue to benefit from high commodity prices and output, but the group expects the future to be “fraught with risks with labour shortages and recession concerns at the top of the list.”

Employment in Alberta has remained strong in recent months.

“Jobs expanded by 0.1 per cent in June while they contracted at the national level. Alberta also officially joined the labour shortage club as it saw its unemployment drop from 7.2 per cent in January to 4.9 per cent in June,” CBC said in its report.”

The agricultural sector in the prairie provinces appears to be rebounding as well.

“Even a modest crop year on the Prairies will be a vast improvement from drought-stricken 2021.”

Nationally, the CBC notes that the Bank of Canada’s inflation-fighting efforts will soon see results, but will also quell economic output.

Labour and employment forecast for Alberta. (Image: Conference Board of Canada)

READ MORE: Canada’s unemployment rate remains at historic low of 4.9 per cent