Real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) rose by 3.3% last year (2017) across Canada, but Nova Scotia was the worst, coming in at only 1.2% growth.
That’s according to recent numbers released by Statistics Canada.
Real GDP is basically the value of everything we produce from apartments and housing, to farming output, oil and gas production and everything in between; a measure of how rich we are.
Andrew Davis, PhD and Assistant Professor of Economics at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS says this is very important
because it’s tightly linked to wages and how much people are earning in the economy.
“You look at wages and the changes in wages between Canada and Nova Scotia, since Canada’s real GDP has been moving up faster and Canadian wages have been moving up faster relative to Nova Scotia wages,” says Davis.
Davis points to Michelin in Bridgewater as an example; he notes the company and a fairly stable year in 2017 which would have an effect on the overall real GDP of the province.
“(Michelin) might be big part of the GDP, a big part of the economy but if they were relatively stable year to year they’re not going to show up as a big contributor to GDP growth,” notes Davis.
Davis also points out that Nova Scotia’s low Real GDP was in part due to offshore oil and gas rigs Deep Panuke and Sable somewhat shutting down during 2017, while the rest of the country got a bump from commodity prices.
By Craig Power
@CraigTPower
