Report indicates Vernon's economy is shrinking

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Updated: May 06, 2013 2:16 PM
A new Conference Board of Canada report says Vernon’s economy has contracted for five consecutive years. According to the report, Vernon’s total gross domestic product went from $2.1 million in 2005 to $1.5 million in 2012. It also states that Vernon’s total employment declined from 31,300 in 2005 to 19,000 in 2012. However, Kevin Poole, Vernon's economic development manager, questions the validity of the report because it is based on federal and provincial statistics. "One of the key challenges we’ve had is that the survey size for the Canadian Labour Force Survey in our area is too small and has skewed our numbers to the point where in my opinion they are not usable," he said.
Poole also wonders if the report factors activity in Spallumcheen and Lumby. “If you look at the industrial base, it’s in those communities.” Poole says he will be looking at the Conference Board of Canada report further. Look for more details in Wednesday's Morning Star.
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  Half of Canada's mid-sized cities yet to recover from recession
  CBC News Posted:  Last Updated: May 6, 2013 5:34 PM ET
While labour force survey figures suggest that Canada overall has recouped all of the jobs it lost in the last recession, a new analysis suggests that many medium-sized cities have still not seen their employment levels return to pre-recession levels. In its first outlook for mid-sized cities, the Conference Board of Canada looked at 46 medium-sized communities across the country – cities which were generally doing well before the recession hit in 2008. The board found that 21 of those cities – almost half – have not regenerated all of the jobs they lost during the recession, which officially ended in 2009. “This is a troubling turn of events, given that these mid-sized cities play an important role as economic engines in their respective regions,” said the director of the board’s Centre for Municipal Studies, Mario Lefebvre.
Some of the poorer performing cities include:

• Miramichi, N.B., which has seen its economic output drop every year since 2005 to the point where its 2012 real GDP and employment levels were less than half of what they were eight years ago.
• New Glasgow, N.S., which has seen its economy shrink every year since 2009 and has shed almost 6,000 jobs since 2008.
• Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., which has seen its economy decline for eight straight years and now reports employment levels that are half what they were in 2005.
• Drummondville, Que., which has seen real GDP decline for five consecutive years and the number of jobs has fallen by 8,000.
• Medicine Hat, Alta., which lost 14,000 jobs between 2008 and 2012 and saw its economy decline for five consecutive years over the same period.
• Vernon, B.C., which has seen its economy contract for five consecutive years.