BC – British Columbia is on track to remain one of Canada’s strongest economies in 2017 as most private sector economists, banks and economic think-tanks are forecasting the province will continue to record real GDP growth that ranks among the best in Canada.
Statistics Canada reported that BC’s real GDP grew by 3.3% in 2015, the highest rate of economic growth in Canada and a full 2.4 percentage points above the national average.
The Province’s independent Economic Forecast Council predicted on Nov. 25, 2016, BC’s economy will outperform Canada; on average, they forecast real GDP growth at 3.0% in 2016 and 2.3% in 2017.
British Columbia’s nation-leading GDP growth can be credited to its strong growth in retail sales, exports (especially to the United States) housing starts, and Canada-leading employment growth.
For 2016, projections for the province’s economic growth range between 2.9% (Scotiabank) to 3.4% (Conference Board of Canada), well above the Canadian real GDP growth rate of between 1.2% (Scotiabank) and 1.4% (TD Economics).
Next year, British Columbia’s real GDP is anticipated to show moderate growth, increasing between 1.7% (RBC Economics) and 2.5% (BMO). While BC’s growth will be tempered compared with the past two years, most economists and banks are forecasting it will be higher than Canada as whole, which is expected to grow from a low of 1.8% (RBC Economics) to a high of 2.1% (Conference Board of Canada) in 2017.
Looking to 2017 and beyond, TD Economics states that British Columbia’s above-average GDP growth will be spurred by consumer spending and that, “federal-provincial government stimulus (that) will add to growth over the next two years – especially in BC where the government will likely redeploy surpluses in new tax cuts and spending increases.”
The Province remains focused on keeping BC diverse, strong and growing. Uncertainty persists in the global economy, which is why BC will continue to create an environment that is welcoming to investment and business so this economic growth continues into the New Year.
