http://leaderpost.com/business/local-business/regina-economy-slowing-but-still-growing
David Froh, vice-president of RROC, noted the city is still seeing population growth, despite the slower economy. “Our population growth of 2.8 per cent (in 2014) is triple our 20-year average. And the vast majority of that is international migration, including refugees. That’s a net positive for the Regina economy.”
Froh’s only concern is that our population is growing faster than the job market. “The population growth is far exceeding our job growth,” he said, adding the city needs to continue to diversify the economy, invest in infrastructure and increase skills training.
As the housing market struggled to absorb the record housing starts in 2013, both residential permits and housing starts dropped sharply from 2014. However, industrial, commercial, and institutional building permit activity remains strong in the first eight months of 2015, offsetting the drop in residential permits.
While the pace of growth represents a downward revision from previous years, Froh said Regina’s projected 1.6 per cent growth in 2015 remains the eighth highest in Canada and well ahead of Calgary and Edmonton. “We’ve undoubtedly been hurt by the downturn in the oilpatch, we’ve lost roughly 2,500 jobs,”
Froh said, but noted that “we’re the only oil-producing region that’s avoiding a recession.”
[email protected]
Prev
Linear Mode
