Is the Canadian economy THAT bad?

[HiTempguy1]

Lots of focus on the Macleans debate and the overall country-wide economy.

I can't really tell if it is that bad? I mean, Alberta is not as good as it has been, don't know if things will go downhill this fall, but what about everywhere else?

[spikerS]

Alberta is pretty fucked up right now. If your job or income is remotely tied to oil, these are pretty scary times. Much of Canada's economy has been tied to oil as production facilities in Ontario and Quebec are still recovering from 1997.

Alberta was the land of opportunity since about 2002, but not so any more. More and more people are leaving to find work in other provinces, and countries. There have been quite a few mentions of this by other Beyonders even. Sugarphreak is one of the first that comes to mind.

Canada as a whole is not that great, but Alberta is about set to start a race to the bottom. Recession is being tossed around a lot by the financial guys now as the past 2 quarters have been a net negative growth, and a recession requires 3.

2009 was a look into the crystal ball IMO. This time around, it is going to get worse. Our assholes have only had the tip, the shaft is coming.

[NoPulp]

I don't think the economy is that bad. I haven't been directly impacted (yet), work is still pretty busy which is uncommon for summer apparently. I think we are looking to hire an elec engineer?
Yes it has hit hard in a few areas though. I think i have 1 friend who got laid off in oil? He found a job right away at a previous employer. Curious what others are experiencing.

[Kloubek]

It certainly is having an effect, but "THAT bad" is Greece.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I wouldn't say it's terrible yet, but the possibility of it getting worse is very real. I've reduced my debt load accordingly and started saving more money personally.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Kloubek
It certainly is having an effect, but "THAT bad" is Greece.

ok, "that bad" isn't here, and we won't be in that position. We have too many other natural resources to exploit and export.

I know what I said sounded doom and gloom, but on a scale of 1-10, IMO, Canada's Economy is a 6, and I think Alberta is probably just below that average at 5.5

[Darell_n]

My commercial / industrial refrigeration work is tied to the food industry and work is as busy as ever. If people stop eating and drinking then I'll be worried. (Several ways)

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by spikerS
We have too many other natural resources to exploit and export.



Not if the NDP get in.

[HiTempguy1]

Honestly, if I had to put numbers to it, Alberta is a 7.5 and Canada is a 8 right now... which is pretty good IMO.

I think you are way offboard there Spikers. Even Alberta's unemployment rate isn't that awful in the grand scheme of things. I agree it could get a lot worse with oil having tanked $10/barrel in the past 2 weeks. Keep in mind that WCS is fairing much better than WTI.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[phreezee]

I've seen entire office building floors cleared out in under a year. Employees and contractors losing 20% of their income while other expenses inflate. Hell yeah its that bad, but is it the bottom? Wait for the election results to find out.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by phreezee
I've seen entire office building floors cleared out in under a year. Employees and contractors losing 20% of their income while other expenses inflate. Hell yeah its that bad, but is it the bottom? Wait for the election results to find out.

This doesn't mean anything though. If Alberta had 2% unemployment and it jumped to 4%, you'd see the exact same thing :dunno: Looking at it in that context, it's not bad, it's just unfortunate. It's been proven it is unhealthy for an economy to have chronic unemployment below 5%.

My personal argument has been Albertans have been OVERemployed for a LONG time. This is a correction, but an empty O&G office floor/building does not mean the entire province is terrible.

I'm not saying you are wrong that it isn't bad FOR SOME PEOPLE, but overall the province is still in ok health. Ok doesn't mean great, it doesn't mean bad, it just means "ok".

[Xtrema]

Alberta was a 10 and Canada was a 7.

Now fhe whole country is a 6.5.

[kaput]

.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by kaput
If the oil price crash was really enough to trigger a national recession, then I think the overall economy is worse than people realize. It shows just how much the rest of the country benefited and depended on the industry they hate so much.

With enough people living out of province that these oil companies were chartering aircraft, buying their own aircraft, and flying in people from all over the country to work the oil sands because there were not enough people locally in the province...Yeah, the whole country was that dependent on oil. Maybe not GDP wise, but a lot of people were for a job, from the actual rig pigs, to accountants, to engineers, etc...

Home sales are down 30% from last year, price is only down 1% so far, but vacancy rate is climbing fast.

The worst part is, watching the butcher prices rise like crazy in the grocery stores. A value pack of chicken used to be $16-18 a year ago, now it is $35+. Same goes for ground beef.

[kaput]

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[spikerS]

Originally posted by kaput


I must have missed something; how are rising beef prices related to the failing economy?

With how heavily our economy and dollar relies/d on the value of a BBL of oil. Now that the value of oil has fallen, the CDN dollar has weakened against the USD, and since all the big players run their currency in USD, they raise the prices in Canadian markets to compensate.


The real kick in the balls is, that if/when the CDN$ does better against the USD$, the companies just see bigger profits and don't lower the costs because we are now used to paying them.

Sad, but it is true. /zenops

[ZenOps]

I'm pretty sure there is a media hush on any coal producers.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/japanese-trader-offloads-1-billion-canadian-coal-mine-for-1/article20874075/

Is a marginal Canadian coal mine worth 7.00 grams of nickel plated with bronze and imprinted with a loon? I think I'd rather have the coin.

[Unknown303]

So many economists on Beyond. You guys should be on TV giving reports on the morning news.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by kaput


I must have missed something; how are rising beef prices related to the failing economy?

Like it or not, world trades in USD.

If I can sell my meat to American for more, I won't sell it to Canadian.

Low petrol dollar means everything is going to inflate and it will be like a 10% pay cut. Unless you are paid in $USD then you just got a 20% pay raise.

That said, this may improve resale value of cars and may allow cheaper leases of new cars out there. May be.

[Cos]

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[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Xtrema

Low petrol dollar means everything is going to inflate

But...but... High petrol dollar means everything inflates due to transportation costs...:cry:

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


But...but... High petrol dollar means everything inflates due to transportation costs...:cry:

Consumer never wins.

[OneGreasyHobo]

I'm funemployed September 1st. :banghead:


Oh well, I'm was in IT/IS at CNRL. Now I'm a stay at home bodybuilder / video gamer. Knew this was going to happen for awhile, have lots put aside, but def going to have to hold off on carbon fiber trunks / hoods.. :(

[SmAcKpOo]

^ What section of IT/IS?

[OneGreasyHobo]

Originally posted by SmAcKpOo
^ What section of IT/IS?


Storage/Unix/ESX

Contract student position. It was fun, might head back to AHS, but no where near as fun as here.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by OneGreasyHobo



Storage/Unix/ESX

Contract student position. It was fun, might head back to AHS, but no where near as fun as here.

Wow I was surprise there is still IT contractors at CNRL. Most contractors was shown the door earlier in the year or converted to employees if deemed crucial.

[OneGreasyHobo]

Originally posted by Xtrema


Wow I was surprise there is still IT contractors at CNRL. Most contractors was shown the door earlier in the year or converted to employees if deemed crucial.

Student position.. I think they write em off, so I'm really no body to important. I also got pretty lucky and my lead hired me back from last summer cause he liked me.

Helps that we both had motorbikes.


If anyone needs knows IT/IS job leads, don't be scared to throw me a pm.

:clap: :rofl: