why did saskatchewan never urbanize?

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by lubicon

Interestingly Alberta and Saskatchewan had roughly the same population until the 1940's if I am not mistaken. In 1947 oil was discovered in large quantities in Alberta and since that time Sask's population has pretty much remained static while Alberta's has tripled.

True.... and now Saskatchewan is attracting alot of new oil development... and ex-sask are starting to move back.

The real question is what will become of Alberta in the next 30 to 40 (Alberta government estimate) years when there oil cash cow runs out. Will Saskatchewan and the Maritimes overtake it?

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by newflyer

True.... and now Saskatchewan is attracting alot of new oil development... and ex-sask are starting to move back.

The real question is what will become of Alberta in the next 30 to 40 (Alberta government estimate) years when there oil cash cow runs out. Will Saskatchewan and the Maritimes overtake it?

First off, there are enough resources in Alberta to last way more than 30-40 years so that point is almost moot. Secondly, any developement of oil & gas in Saskatchewan or any other province will still result in a good chunk of the money ending up in Alberta anyways. Most of the companies that will be developing these resources are HQ'd in Calgary and would likely remain there. As a result Alberta (and Calgary) will still greatly benefit from any developement in other regions of Canada.

Yes, there will be great benefits for those other regions as well, but the lights won't be turning out in Calgary either.