B.C.’s economy is in relatively good shape compared to other provinces as the NDP government prepares for a year where the COVID-19 pandemic is easing, the B.C. Business Council says in a pre-budget analysis.
But the tax environment is affecting competitiveness, working against the provincial government’s push to move B.C. to a more high-tech economy with hundreds of millions in innovation, clean energy and skills training spending ahead.
Finance Minister Selina Robinson is preparing to release B.C.’s 2022-23 budget on Feb. 22. A forecast deficit for the current year has shrunk from nearly $10 billion to $1.7 billion, including large contingency funds, but much of that is likely to be expended this year on massive reconstruction of flood-damaged highways and recovery of Lytton, Merritt and the Eastern Fraser Valley.
The skills shortage is significant, particularly in senior management roles where top executives are faced with an personal income tax rate of more than 53 per cent, BCBC chief economist Ken Peacock said Friday. And B.C. competes with the U.S. Pacific Northwest, where Washington has no state income tax, as it hopes for more investment from technology giants such as Amazon and Microsoft.
B.C. already has Canada’s highest offered wages, but attracting young people to the province to replace retiring baby boomers and build new industry is held back by high income taxes and housing costs, Peacock said Feb. 18. Despite the wages, B.C. has the highest number of job vacancies among provinces.
As Premier John Horgan and Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said this week in updating the province’s economic plan, resource industry exports continue to be key to the province’s future growth. B.C. has the highest carbon tax in Canada, without protection for exporting industries as other jurisdictions have, and measured as a share of gross domestic product, B.C. and Canada’s exports are at the same level as in 1980.
“It needs to change,” Peacock said of industrial carbon costs. “It’s becoming very onerous.”
B.C.’s clean energy transition requires copper and other minerals. Last January B.C. cabinet ministers were reminded that it takes an average of 13 years to approve a new mine in the province.
“The regulatory environment and permitting absolutely have to be addressed,” Peacock said.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
