Late is better than never, right? I've been very busy this past week with our newest investment property, plus Diane being now 7 days past due is adding to the complexity around here.
As I eluded to last week, I have been overwhelmed by the number of calls and emails I've been receiving from folks interested in our newest rental property from afar. I've gotten inquiries from as far West as Victoria, and as far East as Newfoundland and Labrador, but the bulk of the people - a good 50% of the inquiries - are from Ontario.
So, because of this I've picked some articles from this week explaining why this is happening. In essence, while the manufacturing sector in central Canada is struggling because of the weak US dollar and the general economic slowdown south of the border, for every job that is lost out there, another two+ are created in Western Canada.
It truly is an amazing time to be in Alberta, with the lowest personal and property taxes in the country, along with super landlord/tenant laws. It's a watershed moment where the powerhouse province shifts from Central, to Alberta.
Labour shortage Canada's top problem
- When Prime Minister Stephen Harper gathered the country's premiers at 24 Sussex Drive last fall, he wanted them to focus on what he saw as the country's No. 1 economic problem: Within a decade or two, there simply will not be enough workers in the country.
- Already, more than 80 per cent of working-age Canadians have a job -- an all-time high. Solberg marshalled the following data to back up his claim: Alberta will require 100,000 workers over the next 10 years.
- And, as the Bank of Canada noted in its monetary policy report last week, year-over-year wage growth has been strong as well, suggesting that good-paying manufacturing jobs are being replaced with equally
Alberta's job market best in the country- Calgary and Alberta boasted the lowest urban and provincial unemployment rates in Canada in April, Statistics Canada reported Friday, as Wild Rose Country set another record Canadian high for employment in the wake of strong job creation.
- The federal agency said Alberta's jobless rate in April edged down to a nation's lowest 3.3 per cent from 3.4 per cent in March, as additions to the province's employed easily outweighed growth in both the population and the labour force. That pushed Alberta's employment rate -- the fraction of people who can work who are working -- to a record high 72.1 per cent.
- The tight labour market has helped to lift average hourly wages in Alberta to the highest of any Canadian province, at $23.39 an hour in April, a 5.6 per cent gain from April of 2007. Although wages in Newfoundland and Labrador, and in Saskatchewan are now rising faster, they are at a much lower level.
Economy pumps out more jobs- Canada's economy created 19,200 jobs in April, more than economists expected, but the jobless rate ticked higher to 6.1 per cent from 6.0 per cent in March as 23,800 workers entered the labour force, Statistics Canada said yesterday.
- It was the first time since June 2007 the unemployment rate was that high.
- The average hourly wage of permanent employees rose 4.2 per cent year-over-year
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