Here you will find Candian Articles relating the Market Insights Community.
One of the first things to notice from the two housing start charts (by provinces and cities) that accompany this report is the much greater regional diversity that is evident versus most of the last couple of years. Where the West used to dominate, the East has now stepped up. For example, Ontario (+33%) and Nova Scotia (+25%) are one-two in terms of provincial housing start gains so far this year versus last year. Traditional front-runner Alberta (-17%) is trailing the herd and is actually recording a decline.
Posted in
Market Insights,
Housing,
Alberta,
British Columbia,
Manitoba,
New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador,
Nova Scotia,
Ontario,
Prince Edward Island,
Quebec,
Saskatchewan
The three tables that accompany this report summarize labour markets in the provinces and cities across Canada. Labour markets in western Canada are still outperforming those in the East. On the other hand, there are indications that the East is responding to its job market challenges in a somewhat effective way. Six of the ten cities with the highest year-over-year increases in employment lie on the Atlantic side of the Ontario-Manitoba boundary.
Posted in
Market Insights,
Economy & Finance,
Alberta,
British Columbia,
Manitoba,
New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador,
Nova Scotia,
Ontario,
Prince Edward Island,
Quebec,
Saskatchewan
Clean drinking water is not something that can be taken for granted. Recognizing this, many local municipalities have been investing more in their water-supply systems, including water pumping stations, water filtration and water distribution systems, since 1982.
Posted in
Market Insights,
Commercial Building & Heavy Engineering,
Alberta,
British Columbia,
Manitoba,
New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador,
Nova Scotia,
Ontario,
Prince Edward Island,
Quebec,
Saskatchewan
In April 2008, a record number of Canadians were building something — houses, office buildings, roads, bridges, you name it. During the month, the construction industry accounted for 7.2% of all employed workers.
Posted in
Market Insights,
Economy & Finance,
Alberta,
British Columbia,
Manitoba,
New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador,
Nova Scotia,
Ontario,
Prince Edward Island,
Quebec,
Saskatchewan
Canada’s merchandise trade surplus improved dramatically for the third straight month in March 2008. The annualized surplus is now back up to $66.4 CAD billion. That is the highest level since May 2007, ten months ago. In December 2007, the annualized surplus had been as low as $27.5 CAD billion. The reason for the improvement has been largely due to the price increase for oil.
According to the recently released Provincial Economic Accounts, growth in Canada was regionally more balanced in 2007 than it was in 2006.
Posted in
Market Insights,
Economy & Finance,
Alberta,
British Columbia,
Manitoba,
New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador,
Nova Scotia,
Ontario,
Prince Edward Island,
Quebec,
Saskatchewan
Statistics Canada released its latest labour force numbers today, for April 2008. Month to month, the number of jobs in the country increased by 19,000. This can be characterized as a holding pattern. It is interesting to note that whereas Canada gained 19,000 jobs in April, the U.S. lost almost exactly the same number (-20,000). Construction job growth in Canada, on a year-over-year basis, increased an incredible +10.4% in the latest month.
The attached table records the 10 largest construction project starts in Canada in April 2008, according to dollar volume. In the latest month, there were four projects in Ontario, three in Alberta, two in Québec and 1 in British Columbia. Also included is the latest trend graph on starts. This looks at 12-month moving totals (again based on dollar volume) of the two major non-residential building categories in Canada − total ICI starts and engineering work. ICI stands for industrial, commercial and institutional.
It seems that Canada is not alone in introducing taxes with the stated purpose of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. In the United Kingdom (UK), the Chancellor (Finance Minister) Allen Darling has just introduced a “green levy” that will double the tax on motor vehicles yet reduce total vehicle emissions by less than 1%.
From January 2003 to September 2008, the Canadian dollar increased in value by slightly more than 50% versus the U.S. dollar. The inverse was that the U.S. dollar dropped in value by about one-third versus the Canadian dollar. Since September of last year, however, the two currencies have been joined at the hip. The have moved in tandem, and mainly downward, versus other major currencies around the world. As a result, a number of world currency adjustments have been quite interesting.
