[newflyer]

Saskatoon job market No. 1 in nation
Derek Abma, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, June 01, 2007

OTTAWA -- Calgary has again emerged as the metropolitan area in Canada with the most economic momentum, according to a report by CIBC Worlds Markets.

In its semi-annual Metro Monitor, CIBC says Calgary topped the list of 24 of the most populated areas in Canada. It is the second time in a row the Alberta city has been No. 1.

Calgary was assigned a score of 33.2, which is based on indicators such as employment, housing and bankruptcy rates.

Another Alberta city benefiting from the oil boom, Edmonton, was a close second with 31.4. Among other things, Edmonton had the fastest rising residential property values in the country.

Rounding out the top five spots are Canada's three largest cities, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, in that order in terms of economic momentum.

Saskatchewan's two biggest cities were listed high, with Saskatoon at No. 6 and Regina at No. 7. Saskatoon was cited as having the best job market and resale-housing market in the country.

The report says that while "Vancouver did not excel in any of our sub-categories, it was able to perform above average in many of them."

Montreal was said to have a "notable improvement in labour-market activity," but still lagging in non-residential building permits and housing starts.

Ottawa-Gatineau, which has been one of the better-ranked areas in previous surveys, is in the middle of the pack this time at No. 12. The national capital region's momentum has declined do to a slowing housing market, less robust technology industry and struggling manufacturing sector.

Windsor was near the bottom of the list at 22nd with a score of 3.4. The city was hurt by the state of the automotive sector, manufacturing in general and the struggling U.S. economy that it borders on.

Two areas -- Thunder Bay, Ont., and Saguenay, Que. -- were assigned negative scores. The high-valued Canadian dollar and struggling manufacturing industries were cited as factors with each..

Conspicuous by its absence in the survey was Winnipeg, which was left out because officials there were unwilling to disclose necessary information.

THE METRO MONITOR:

economic momentum scores by city:

Calgary 33.2

Edmonton 31.4

Vancouver 22.3

Montreal 22.3

Toronto 17.9

Saskatoon 17.7

Regina 16.3

Victoria 16.2

Sherbrooke 15.2

Halifax 12.3

Kitchener 12.2

Ottawa-Gatineau 10.9

Quebec City 10

Greater Sudbury 9.7

St. John's 9.5

London 9.4

Hamilton 7.1

St. Catharines-Niagara 6.8

Trois-Rivieres 6.5

Saint John 5.1

Kingston 4.9

Windsor 3.4

Thunder Bay 0.9