The Watch CALGARIANS NOT NECESSARILY SEEING THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THEIR ECONOMY With the next election looming, Albertans are mulling over the state of the economy and wondering what the future will bring. A new study out of the School of Pub- lic Policy at the University of Calgary suggests that the city’s residents may be leading the pack when it comes to economic pessimism. With help from Forum Research, the study’s authors surveyed the same 748 individuals about their views on the economy in 2017 and 2018. Two-thirds of respon- dents believed that the local and provincial economies had worsened over the previous year, and nearly half believed the Canadian economy had also declined. Younger Calgarians were more likely to feel that the economy had improved, while older folks were more prone to negativity.
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The study’s researchers note that the perceptions don’t necessarily match the economic reality. Given the price of oil and gas, decline in GDP growth last year, and uncertainties about the future of the energy sector, no one would argue that the province has regained its past economic prosperity. But by many measures, Al- berta’s economy is still quite healthy. The recession has been over since 2017 and the economy is growing, the experts on such things say. More people are employed now than before the crash, and workers enjoy average weekly earnings of $1,155— more than their counterparts in any other province in Canada. While it’s true that Calgary’s unemployment rate still hovers above seven per cent, not all demographics are equally affected. Those in their prime working years (25-54), for instance, now have employment rates very close to pre-recession levels.
YYC TRAVELLER FIGURES SOAR IN 2018 Calgary’s economy may be staying close to the ground (at least in terms of public perception), but the airport authority is certainly flying high. In 2018, a record number of travellers—17.3 million—visited the Calgary International Airport. This marks a 6.6 per cent increase or an extra 1 million passengers in just 12 months, a surge that YYC hasn’t experienced since 2014, when the provincial economy was soaring. The airport authority attributes much of the growth to the addition of a $2-billion international terminal in the fall of 2016, which has helped the airport become a hub for connecting flights. About
INTERNATIONALISM A new international terminal is credited with making Calgary more of a hub than it used to be, driving usage upwards, says the Calgary Airport Authority. -photo courtesy Calgary Airport Authority
The airport is expecting similar growth in 2019, when WestJet takes possession its first Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The 320-seat planes will allow the Calgary-based airline to begin competing more with Air Canada for international flights.
37 per cent of YYC passengers are connecting to another flight, a process that’s made easier by new technologies, and improvements to customs and security procedures in the new terminal.
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