The Western Provinces
Forge Ahead in the New Economy

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ound up the wagons and head out west ... to Western Canada, that is. Though the four Western Provinces -- Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan -- have fallen behind the rest of Canada in terms of job growth, other indicators point to a swift upswing in the region's economy. By some measures, the region is outperforming Canada's economic powerhouse, Ontario.
      Take for example recent unemployment rates. While Ontario saw its jobless rate rise from 5.7 percent in January to 6.1 percent in February, many of the Western Provinces saw their numbers drop, reports Statistics Canada -- despite the falloff in the U.S. economy. Alberta's unemployment rate fell from 5 percent in January to 4.6 percent in February. Meanwhile, Manitoba posted the lowest jobless rate in the country at 4.5 percent.
      Another important barometer of a region's prosperity is population growth. Western Canada is already the second-largest region with 30 percent of the national population. Over the next 25 years the region's population is projected to grow slowly but at a rate slightly higher than the rest of Canada, notes Robert Roach and Loleen Berdahl, senior policy analyst and director of research, respectively, for the Canada West Foundation, in the April 2001 "State of the West: Western Canadian Demographic and Economic Trends."
      Recent business climate changes are certain to make Western Canada even more appealing for corporate location activity. In the last couple of years, many of the Western Provinces have significantly cut corporate and individual tax rates, and a new emphasis on high-tech development is helping raise the region to the level of its eastern counterparts as a suitable location for such industries.