Alberta’s economy is the sum of all economic activity in the province, which is Canada’s fourth largest by population. In 2018, Alberta’s GDP was CDN$338.2 billion.
Despite Alberta’s involvement in a variety of industries, including agriculture, forestry, education, tourism, banking, and manufacturing, the province’s politics and culture have been inextricably linked to the production of fossil fuels since the 1940s. Alberta is Canada’s top oil producer, having an estimated 1.4 billion cubic metres of unconventional oil resource in the bituminous oil sands.
The energy sector in Alberta contributed $71.5 billion to Canada’s nominal gross domestic product in 2018. According to Statistics Canada, the oil and gas extraction industry accounted for more than 7% of Canada’s national GDP in May 2018, surpassing banking and insurance, with non-conventional oil production from the oilsands reaching a “impressive” all-time high in May 2018. Demand for Canadian oil was strong in May, as conventional oil extraction “returned to 2007 highs.”
Alberta’s GDP increased by 57 percent between 1990 and 2003, compared to 43 percent for the rest of Canada, making it the fastest-growing province in the country. Alberta’s per capita GDP was higher than that of all US states in 2006, and it was one of the highest in the world. In 2006, the province’s departure from the national average was the highest in Canadian history. Alberta has the greatest per capita GDP of any province in Canada in 2007, at C$74,825 (about US$75,000). In 2007, Alberta’s per capita GDP was 61 percent greater than the Canadian average of C$46,441 and more than double that of the Maritime provinces. Alberta’s “commodity exports surged 91 percent from 2004 to 2014, reaching $121 billion in 2014” and 500,000 new jobs were generated. Alberta’s real GDP by expenditure climbed by 4.8 percent in 2014, the fastest rate of growth among the provinces “Vines” Alberta’s actual per capita GDPeconomic production per personwas $71,092 in 2017, compared to $47,417 in Canada. Alberta received an A for its income per capita in 2016 because it was practically “similar” to that of the “top peer country”Ireland.
In 2013, the energy sector employed 7.7% of Albertans, and in 2017, it employed 140,300 people, or 6.1 percent of the province’s overall workforce of 2,286,900. The unemployment rate in Alberta peaked at 9.1% in November 2016. Its lowest point throughout a ten-year span, from July 2009 to July 2019, was 4.3 percent in September 2013. Alberta’s unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in the spring of 2019, with 21,000 new jobs added in April. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate had risen to 7.0 percent by July 2019.
According to Statistics Canada, Alberta had 2,344,000 full-time jobs in August 2019, down from 14,000 full-time jobs in July, which was the “biggest fall” in the country.
Beginning in June 2014, the world’s record-high oil stocks in storageknown as a global oil glutcaused crude oil prices to plummet to near ten-year lows. By 2016, the benchmark light, sweet crude oil, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), had dropped to its lowest price in ten years, US$26.55. WTI hit a high of US$125 in 2012, and a low of $100 in 2014. Western Canadian Select WCS, the Alberta standard heavy crude oil, was US$14.10 in February 2016, making it the cheapest oil in the world. Alberta’s boom years, which lasted from 2010 to 2014, were followed by a “long and deep” recession, which began in 2014 and ended in 2017, owing to low commodity prices. Alberta was still recovering five years later, in 2019. Approximately 35,000 jobs were lost in the mining, oil, and gas industries alone. Construction (down more than 45,000 jobs), mining, oil and gas (down almost 35,000 jobs), and professional services (down 18,000 jobs) have all lost jobs since 2014, according to economist Trevor Tombe. Wages, the number of jobs, and the number of hours worked have all decreased. The entire loss of income from “workers, businesses, and government” was around 20%, or around CDN$75 billion each year. Alberta’s prices have risen by 18 percent since 2011. Nonetheless, the average Alberta worker earns more than the average worker in all other provinces and territories.
Alberta had lost over 100,000 jobs in the oil field by March 2016. Despite the surplus in 2015 due to the low price of WCS, 99 percent of Canada’s oil exports went to the US, and Canada remained the US’s largest supplier of total petroleum3,789 thousand bpd in September3,401 thousand bpd in October, up from 3,026 thousand bpd in September 2014. By April 2019, two of the largest oil firms still employed tens of thousands of people: Suncor had about 12,500 full-time employees and Canadian Natural Resources had about 10,000.
Because of its substantial resource tax receipts, Alberta has the “lowest overall taxes of any province or territory” in Canada. However, with the collapse in global oil prices, overall tax receipts from oil royalties and other non-renewable sources have plummeted. For example, in 2013, oil tax receipts totaled $9.58 billion, or 21% of the whole Provincial budget, but by 2018 they had dropped to just $5.43 billion, or 11% of the total Provincial budget.
Alberta’s economy suffered in the spring of 2020 as a result of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 RussiaSaudi Arabia oil price war.”
Is the economy of Alberta in trouble?
The economic journey that lies ahead The province’s mood is also improving. According to Janet Brown Research’s recent polling for the CBC, in April 2021, 38% of Albertans thought their condition was worse than a year before, down dramatically from 51% in March 2020 and 49% in May 2020.
Is Alberta in a downturn in 2021?
According to a new estimate from RBC Economics, Alberta’s oil-and-gas-fueled economic recovery will continue into next year.
After tying Quebec for first place with 5.9% growth in 2021, the research projects that Alberta’s GDP would increase by 4.7 percent in 2022, trailing only Saskatchewan’s 5.6 percent.
It predicts a 6.7 percent unemployment rate in 2022 (down from 8.7% this year) and a 5.3 percent unemployment rate in 2023.
The report stated, “It’s amazing what a resurgence in global oil and gas markets will accomplish for Alberta’s economy.”
Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews said earlier this week that the province’s new fiscal projection forecasts five times the amount of bitumen royalties will come into provincial coffers compared to the February budget forecast.
According to him, this will reduce the expected deficit this year to $5.8 billion, a significant reduction from the estimated $18.2 billion deficit for 2021-22.
Stronger drilling activity, new pipeline capacity, and a predicted increase in capital expenditures in the energy industry “albeit they will remain a fraction of what they were when oil prices fell in mid-2014,” according to the research firm all contribute to the positive prognosis.
Improved labor market conditions, increased consumer confidence, robust household savings, and greater immigration, according to the report, will promote economic growth next year, boosting consumer spending and housing sales.
“We do expect Alberta to continue to recover next year and to fully recover next year as long as conditions remain,” said RBC economist Carrie Freestone.
According to RBC, Alberta’s renewable energy sector is showing signs of growth, with 61 solar projects under construction and expected to be operational by the mid-2020s.
“In the years ahead, we believe Alberta is well positioned to attract more investments of this type and size,” the report stated.
Will the economy of Alberta ever recover?
Alberta’s economy is improving, but it won’t reach pre-COVID levels until mid-2022, according to economists. Alberta’s economy is starting to recover, but it won’t reach pre-COVID levels until mid-2022, according to ATB’s senior economist.
Why are so many people leaving Alberta?
The net increase in population is the first time since the first quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 epidemic arrived in Canada, that more individuals have moved into Alberta than have moved away. One of the major outflows from Alberta during the pandemic occurred in the second quarter of 2021, with 29,086 persons departing and 23,639 entering in the province.
The Business Council of Alberta’s chief economist, Mike Holden, said a large number of people were moving across Canada. After 18 months of public health limitations and the fear of contracting COVID-19, he believes there was pent-up demand.
What province in Canada has the poorest economy?
The gross domestic product of Canadian provinces and territories is listed in this article (GDP).
While the ten provinces and three territories of Canada have high per capita GDPs, there is significant diversity across them. Ontario, the most populous province in Canada, is a significant manufacturing and commercial powerhouse with substantial ties to the northeastern and midwestern United States. Natural resources are vital to the economies of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the territories. Manitoba, Quebec, and the Maritimes, on the other hand, have the lowest per capita GDP in the country.
In response to these long-term regional discrepancies, the Canadian government redistributes some of its resources through unconditional equalization payments and funds comparable levels of government services through the Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer.
How does Alberta generate revenue?
Although the oil and gas sector remains Alberta’s largest industry, accounting for 16% of its GDP, other industries such as construction, real estate, banking and insurance, and business and commercial services increased significantly between 1986 and 2016.
What is Alberta’s claim to fame in Canada?
The province holds the country’s largest oil and natural gas reserves. Alberta, the westernmost of Canada’s three Prairie provinces, shares many geographical characteristics with Saskatchewan and Manitoba, its eastern neighbors.
Is there a Covid recovery benefit in Alberta?
Alberta’s Recovery Plan is a strategy for reviving the province’s economy and expanding opportunities for all Albertans. It’s a strategy to expand, diversify, and generate jobs.
During a worldwide epidemic, global recession, and collapsing world oil prices, we announced the plan in June 2020. Alberta’s economy is currently on the mend.
Both this year and next, we are expected to lead the country in economic growth. Alberta’s Recovery Plan builds on this momentum and will assist all Albertans in seizing control of our bright future.
Will there be another oil boom in Alberta?
Alberta is set to enter another oil boom this year, with oil prices exceeding $100 per barrel, but experts say it will be the last. Breanna Karstens-Smith discusses the situation.