economic overview for mackenzie region

Economic Overview for MacKenzie Region

Lindsay Thompson, REDI

(additional slides by J.Beal)

PAG meeting, April 10th, 2012

Regional Economic Development Initiative for

Northwest Alberta

• REDI was formed in 2002 to promote and enhance economic development in the Mackenzie Region

• REDI has representation from The Town of High Level, The Town of Rainbow Lake and Mackenzie County as well as industry

Purpose of Presentation

• CSA Mandatory Discussion Items include:

– Benefits for local communities and Aboriginal Peoples (cultural, spiritual, economic, health, etc.)

– Fair distribution of benefits and costs

– Proportion of goods and services sourced from local communities (to the extent that they are available and reasonably cost-competitive)

Economic Factors in the Mackenzie Region

• Alberta’s Economy

• Employment

• Economic Indicators

• Businesses

• Labour Force

• Aboriginal component

• Forestry in Mackenzie Region

• Indicator compar

Alberta’s Economy

Sources: Statistics Canada and Alberta Treasury Board and Enterprise

Energy25.7%

Manufacturing6.2%

Transportation & Utilities

6.3%

Business & Commercial

Services9.4%Finance & Real

Estate14.8%

Tourism & Consumer Services

5.0%

Retail & Wholesale 8.6%

Public Administration

3.8%

Education3.8%

Health5.3%

Agriculture 1.5%

Construction9.6%

Regional

Employment Growth November 2010 - November 2011

Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake +4.3%

Athabasca-Grande Prairie +3.7%

Edmonton Region +6.1%

Red Deer Region +5.7%

Banff-Jasper Rocky Mtn. House -1.3%

Calgary Region +4.7%

Camrose-Drumheller +2.1%

Lethbridge-Medicine Hat +4.5%

Provincial Rate +4.8%

Note: regional rates are 3-month averages

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey

Mackenzie Economic Indicators

12.7

0.6

0.4

0.6

0.3

0.5

0.3

0.3

0.1

6.0

0.4

0.3

1.3

2.1

0.9

0.3

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0

Land area

Population

Employment

EI beneficiaries

Personal income

Number of businesses

Building permits

New housing units

Major projects

Wood Fiber

Farm cash receipts

Cattle and calves

Cropland (area)

Natural gas

Crude oil

Wells drilled

Mackenzie Region's Share of Alberta (%)

“The Mackenzie region … covers an area of 81,168 square kilometers, larger in size than the Czech Republic. The region accounts for 12.7% of Alberta’s land mass and for 0.6% of Alberta’s population.” www.albertacanada.com

“The region’s largest industry on an employment basis is agriculture and forestry, accounting for 10.7% of total employment in Census year 2006, followed by manufacturing at 10.6%, and retail trade, construction and education at about 9% each. The region’s sizeable manufacturing base is concentrated in the forest product sector.” www.albertacanada.com

Number of Businesses by Industry Agriculture

9%

Forestry8%

Mining, Oil & Gas Extraction

6%

Utilities & Construction

16%

Manufacturing2%

Retail & Wholesale Trade14%

Transportation & Warehousing

14%

Information, Culture, Recreation & Arts

2%

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate & Leasing

4%

Professional, Scientific & Technical

Services4%

Administrative & Waste Management

Services & Management of

Companies4%

Public Sector6%

Accommodation & Food Services

3%

Other Services Excluding Private

Household Services*8%

Source: Statistics Canada’s Business Register

Number of Businesses by Size

1 - 4 Employees,

58.7%

5 - 9 Employees,

18.3%

10 - 19 Employees,

11.5%

20 - 49 Employees,

7.1%

50+ Employees,

4.4%

Mackenzie

Alberta

Source: Statistics Canada’s Business Register

9

1 - 4 Employees,

54.4% 5 - 9

Employees, 20.7%

10 - 19 Employees,

14.7%

20 - 49 Employees,

6.7%

50+ Employees,

3.5%

Labour Force

• Unemployment rate in region: 6.7% in ’06 (4.3% for AB)

• Employment rate: 62.4% (70.9% for AB)

• Participation rate*: 66.8% (74.0% for AB)

*actively employed + seeking employment

Rank Industry # of Jobs

% of MC

Jobs

% of Alberta

Jobs

1 Agriculture & Forestry 940 11% 4%

2 Manufacturing 870 10% 7%

3 Retail Trade 820 10% 11%

4 Construction 795 9% 9%

5 Educational Services 785 9% 6%

Source: Statistics Canada – 2006 Census

What happened to Energy Sector?

Source: www.albertacanada.com

“Oil and gas production in the Mackenzie region has fallen over the last five years, with gas production declining by 39.8% between 2004 and 2009, and oil production by 29.5% over the same period.”

Workforce Characteristics

•Younger workforce in Mackenzie compared to AB

Source: Statistics Canada – 2006 Census

“The larger cohort of young people entering the work force may allow for increased development as well as bring about challenges associated with an expanding supply of workers that is not met with an equal demand for labour.” www.albertacanada.com

Workforce Characteristics

Source: www.albertacanada.com, 2006 data

• 23% have post-secondary degree vs. +/-42% in AB • 9% have trade certificate vs. 12% in AB • 50% did not finish high school vs. 15% in AB

http://www.albertacanada.com/

Aboriginal Statistics


“… comprised 43.0% of Mackenzie’s total population in 2010, compared with 2.9% for the province as a whole.”


15 Source: www.albertacanada.com

Mackenzie Region: Wages and Salaries

• Vacancy rate: The percentage of total positions in this industry reported as unfilled for over four months

• Hiring difficulties: Percent of employers with hiring difficulties. • Only industries or occupations with more than 100 reported employees were

included in the analysis for Total All Industries


Mackenzie Forestry Sector (2009)

•5th largest producer of forestry products (6.0% of AB wood fiber)

•Provides 1,000 jobs, down 55% from 2005

•23% of the region’s jobs are directly or indirectly related to the forestry industry

• Shipped $175 million in wood products (down 49% from 2005)

“The global economic and U.S. housing crises have had a profound impact on forest product prices. Prices for lumber had dropped by more than one-half between early 2006 and the early of 2009. However, these prices have increased sharply by about one-third since then.” www.albertacanada.com


Volatile Lumber Prices

19

Housing Starts

20

-

50

100

150

200

250

300

-

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

Jan

-08

Ap

r-08

Jul-

08

Oct

-08

Jan

-09

Ap

r-09

Jul-

09

Oct

-09

Jan

-10

Ap

r-10

Jul-

10

Oct

-10

Jan

-11

Ap

r-11

Jul-

11

Oct

-11

Can

adian

Ho

usin

g Starts (SA

AR

, '00

0s)

Un

ited

Sta

tes

Ho

usi

ng

Star

ts (S

AA

R, '

000s

)Housing Starts in North America

USA Canada

Source: Economy.com, CMHC

Contractor Hiring

• Non local contractors are hired for planting operations, cone raking (helicopter method), herbicide application, silviculture surveys, harvest block surveying and some other small contracts within Woodlands where no current contractors are found locally

• Primary harvesting and trucking contractors are sourced locally; horse logging is not used

Local Purchasing

• Purchasers try to source locally to support the community (if it makes economic sense) however, things that Woodlands or the Mill require that are not available locally use local trucking to get the product here.

Employment at Tolko

REDI Project - Using information from two previous studies of forestry opportunities in our region, the Regional Economic Development Initiative (REDI) has begun work on a project that will promote bio-industrial marketing for our region. A group will be formed with representation from Tolko, Ainsworth, the Town of High Level, the Town of Rainbow Lake and Mackenzie County representatives to market our region as a primary location for bio-industrial activities. The goal of this project is to interest developers to locating their activities in our region.

Past Economic Indicators

New CSA Core Economic Indicators Current Economic Indicators

5.1.1 Quantity and quality of timber and non-timber benefits, products, and services produced in the DFA.

5.2.1 Level of investment in initiatives that contribute to community stability

5.2.2 Level of investment in training and skills development

5.2.3 Level of direct and indirect employment

5.2.4 Level of Aboriginal participation in the forest economy

#24: Volume harvested during 5-year cut control period.

#28: The number (%) of business and employment opportunities given to local employers and/or citizens. (Woodlands only)

#29: The number of Business and Wood Supply Agreements with local tenure holders and processing facilities.

economic overview for mackenzie region

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