Regional economic disparities to continue next year, according to CIBC World Markets

TORONTO, Feb. 10  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Just as they did 30 years ago, sizzling energy prices have spawned huge economic disparities across the provincial landscape, according to the latest issue of CIBC World Markets' Provincial Forecast. Senior Economist Warren Lovely predicts these economic disparities will remain for years to come, with brisk growth in energy-rich Alberta contrasting with a more muted expansion in Canada's industrial heartland.

"Home to the lion's share of Canada's oil and gas resources, Alberta is the poster child for what a red-hot economy looks like," said Mr. Lovely. CIBC expects that Alberta's 7 per cent rate of expansion during 2006 will end up being nearly four times faster than growth in Ontario and Quebec, where energy prices, a strong Canadian dollar and a stateside cooling will weigh.

According to the CIBC report, Alberta's growth advantage will be equally pronounced in 2007. An expectation of persistently high oil and gas prices beyond 2007 means Alberta's economic edge should prove much more lasting than the one it saw in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Another key provincial energy producer, Newfoundland & Labrador, could legitimately challenge Alberta for the 2006 provincial growth title, as resource production takes its latest step up. Elsewhere, British Columbia should enjoy a non-residential building boom, with sturdy domestic demand leading to a strong economic expansion in 2006-07.

The CIBC World Markets' Provincial Forecast, which contains a province- by-province analysis, is available at http://www.cibcwm.com/research.

CIBC World Markets is the wholesale banking arm of CIBC, providing a range of integrated credit and capital markets products, investment banking, and merchant banking to clients in key financial markets in North America and around the world. We deliver innovative full capital solutions to growth- oriented companies and are active in all capital markets. We offer advisory expertise across a wide range of industries and provide top-ranked research for our corporate, government and institutional investor clients. 

DATASOURCE: CIBC



CONTACT: Warren Lovely, Senior Economist, [phone],

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