Alberta Economic Fundamentals

[joeiannuzzi]

Calgary airport moves record number of flyers

Passenger traffic at the Calgary International Airport hit a record high in 2007, with more than 12 million passengers on the move.

Growth in passenger traffic will continue in 2008, but it`s expected to land in the three to five per cent range -- a slightly less robust clip than the 8.4 per cent increase reaped last year.

Total passengers at the Calgary International Airport hit 12.26 million in 2007, or about 33,500 passengers per day, marking the continuation of a growth spurt that`s seen traffic surge 55 per cent over the past five years.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...c7-0fac12ad0b04

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Calgary leads rise in office vacancies

Calgary recorded the sharpest rise in Canada in the overall office vacancy rate in the first quarter of this year compared with a year ago, providing some much-needed relief in the "overheated" market, says a national report by a commercial real estate firm.

Cushman & Wakefield LePage said Wednesday the city`s office vacancy rate rose to 4.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 from 1.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2007.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...c5-6338e668c7cf

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Downturn fails to diminish hunger for high-end homes

The strong demand for luxury homes in the Calgary region continues despite a downturn in the resale housing market in the first three months of the year.

For the first quarter of this year, to the end of March, 142 residential properties in Calgary and area have sold for more than $1 million. The figure includes single-family homes and condominiums in Calgary metro, homes in towns just outside the city, and country residential acreages. That`s slightly down from the 183 residential properties in that price bracket sold in the same period last year.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...33-85affc94f9bd

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Direct Energy to grow production

Natural gas retailer Direct Energy Marketing Ltd. will boost its production to 20 per cent of the fuel it sells through a deal to buy the Canadian oil and gas assets of Calgary-based TransGlobe Energy Corp.

The acquisition announced Wednesday continues a recent vertical integration trend among natural gas utilities, including rival Enmax.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...2b-ae0ecd9baddd

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Council OK`s southwest rec centre

Construction on the long-planned southwest recreation complex could begin next month after city council unanimously agreed Wednesday to go ahead with the project.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...ce-f7978a97064a

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Pine-beetle fight needs another $50M

EDMONTON - The politician overseeing Alberta`s war on the mountain pine beetle wants to commit $50 million in emergency funding this year to fight the tiny forest-eating pest.

"Contrary to a lot of our critics, we`re making progress on that front," Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton said Wednesday at a forestry forum at the University of Alberta School of Business.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...f7-0bcbc78a5b53

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Soaring oil, gold point to widening economic divide

The loonie soared close to parity Wednesday on the back of record oil prices and new evidence of a widening North American economic divide.

U.S. reports pointed to a deepening of the housing recession while Statistics Canada reported an unexpected second straight monthly surge in factory shipments.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...ae-74929d2dc0f6

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Plan to spend more on summer road trips -- gas may hit $1.50

Gas prices across Canada headed into the stratosphere Wednesday, closing in on $1.30 a litre in Montreal, and experts predict summer pump prices could hit $1.50.

The price hike comes just as Canadians are thinking about summer holidays. If the analysts are right, they might want to think again.

"People should get used to the idea of $1.50 a litre gas," said economist Jeff Rubin of CIBC World Markets.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...d3-ffb27072da5d

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Alberta warned of ID theft

The provincial government can`t assure Albertans that it`s properly protecting their sensitive electronic information, the auditor general warned Wednesday.

Fred Dunn also flagged serious flaws in how public post-secondary schools are handling and guarding student records kept in computers, citing several southern Alberta schools, including Alberta College of Art & Design and SAIT in Calgary, as weaker than others.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...4c-f375df57e4f1

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Museum gets new funding

Lacombe`s main museum will re-open soon after the Town of Lacombe agreed to invest in more money to save it.

On Monday, town council agreed to inject up to $31,000 until Dec. 31 for the Lacombe Interpretive Centre — on top of the $28,000 approved in the 2008 municipal budget.

The museum housed in the downtown Flat Iron Building closed April 1 because the Lacombe Historical Society didn`t have enough dollars to keep it running.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ew_funding.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Concerns raised at annexation meeting

The Town of Ponoka hosted a public meeting regarding the proposed annexation from county to town on April 14. Over 100 people met at the Kinsmen Centre to discuss the issues that would come if the annexation were to be executed.

Mayor Larry Henkelman began the meeting by thanking everyone who attended and invited County of Ponoka Reeve Gordon Svenningsen to speak. Svenningsen informed the crowd that the members of the county council were at the meeting as observers and will be discussing the results of the meeting at a later date.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/ponokanews...s/17812819.html

 

[MONEY]

The housing boom is over!

April 17, 2008 - 10:00 pm



Bryce Kelley






The housing boom in Canada is starting to slow down.

The latest numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association shows a softening of markets across most of the country.

Douglas Porter, the chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns, says there are double-digit declines in sales activity in more markets than you can shake a stick at, and Calgary is one of those markets.

Our city is posting the sharpest decline in sales activity.

Year over year, it`s down 36%.

The figures are a huge change of pace from 2 years ago, and Ed Jensen, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board tells 660 news the city has officially become a buyers market.

New listings in have soared in Calgary Edmonton and Vancouver, while its a sellers dream in Regina Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

The Canadian Real Estate Association says most major markets in canada are becoming balanced, but Alberta`s two biggest cities are the "most balanced".

http://www.660news.com/news/local/article....418_002104_7616

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Alberta plans to satisfy world`s oilsands concerns

Alberta must develop its energy resources in a responsible and sustainable way because the eyes of the world are closely watching, Premier Ed Stelmach said Thursday.

In particular, they`re eyeing the oilsands and how the second-largest reserve in the world is developed. Stelmach noted $20 billion of new investment is projected for the oilsands this year, according to Statistics Canada.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...68-82c7a7336d5a

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Alberta loses title as inflation capital

A slower climb in gasoline prices -- which were still rising forcefully -- helped to trim inflation in March for the fourth consecutive month, Statistics Canada said Thursday as prices across Canada rose at a 1.4 per cent annual rate, down from 1.8 per cent in February.

The tamer price growth was

reflected in Alberta, which lost its title as inflation capital of Canada.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...e7-c853d977b836

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Council approves huge Habitat project

EDMONTON - Habitat for Humanity will soon begin construction of its largest local project.

Homeowners from the Bergman neighbourhood wanted to stop the project on 123rd Avenue at 42nd Street but council approved it late Tuesday.

"This is a social experiment, not a nice sweet Extreme Makeover Home Edition," Bergman resident Toni Seerden told council during a daylong public hearing on Thursday. And although smaller Habitat projects have caused no crime or social problems, added Seerden, that doesn`t mean the bigger project will be OK.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...dc-dc85fa4346ab

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Natural gas price giving needed balm to sector

EDMONTON / Markets for Alberta`s top money-earner, natural gas, have taken a long-awaited turn for the better.

Industry just chalked up its first revenue gain on heating season exports since prices, drilling and rig employment cooled down in early 2006, show trade records kept by the National Energy Board.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...01-7f8ca13365d9

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Province neglecting Sylvan Lake park?

A frustrated Sylvan Lake town council is turning to area MLAs, questioning the province`s commitment to Centennial Park.

"The province really is neglecting their own provincial park," said town Councillor Ken MacVicar.

"From my perspective, this park is used as much, if not more, than any other provincial park in Alberta."

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv..._Lake_park.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Leader Energy Services vacates Red Deer premises

A continued slowdown in the natural gas sector has prompted a major well stimulation and cementing services company to pull the plug on its Red Deer operations.

Leader Energy Services Ltd. (TSXV:LEE) is looking for a tenant to sub-lease its former premises at 4080 77th St.

Keith Acheson of Royal LePage Network Reality Corp.`s commercial division confirmed Wednesday that Leader Energy vacated the premises in early March. He said the property has been on the market since January.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...r_premises.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Calgary home sales plummet

Calgary has recorded the steepest decline in residential MLS sales in the country for the first quarter of this year, with total sales plunging by 35.9 per cent compared with the same three months in 2007, says the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The association report released Thursday says Edmonton was behind Calgary, with sales dropping by 29.8 per cent -- something mirrored throughout the country as the MLS market activity is off by 13 per cent from a year ago.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...5e-8404df47d40c

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Enmax quizzed over natural gas plant plans

CALGARY -- A proposed water source for a natural-gas-fired electricity-generating facility to be built in Calgary`s Shepard Industrial park sparked concerns during a public meeting this week.

More than 100 people showed up to hear officials of power company Enmax talk about the proposed $1-billion-plus plant, which is still in the early planning stages.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/we...6c-614bb4260707