Offshore Oil Transforms St. John’s into Canada’s Fastest Growing Economy

Increased offshore oil production will make St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador the fastest growing economy among 15 Canadian cities in 2013, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s Metropolitan Outlook-Summer 2013.

“With economic growth forecast to reach five per cent this year, St. John’s is expected to more than recover from a 3.2 per cent decline in 2012,” said Mario Lefebvre, Director of the Conference Board’s Centre for Municipal Studies. “As the hub for the provincial offshore petroleum industry, St. John’s economy will get a lift from higher offshore oil and gas production. Growth in the construction sector will continue to be positive this year, though more modest than in recent years.”

St. John’s  is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 200,600 as of 2012, the St. John’s Metropolitan Area is the second largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Atlantic Canada after Halifax and the 20th largest metropolitan area in Canada. Its name has been attributed to the feast day of John the Baptist, when John Cabot was believed to have sailed into the harbour in 1497, and also to a Basque fishing town with the same name.

Aside from St. John’s, most of the cities covered in the Summer 2013 edition of the Metropolitan Outlook are expected to post modest economic gains. In all, 13 of the 15 Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) can expect growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) of between one and two per cent.