Provincial and territorial economic accounts

Real gross domestic product (GDP) for 2003 has been revised upwards for most provinces and territories except for Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan, which were unchanged, and New Brunswick, which was lowered slightly. The Northwest Territories and Newfoundland and Labrador had the largest growth rates in 2003. In general, real GDP for the provinces and territories was revised downwards in 2000, with mixed revisions for 2001 and upward revisions for 2002.

Following elevated growth of national real GDP of 5.2% in 2000, the economy slowed to 1.8% in 2001 and experienced more moderate growth of 3.4% in 2002 and 2.0% in 2003. Newfoundland and Labrador was a strong performer in 2002 and 2003, with growth in GDP fuelled by oil output. Of the territories, the Northwest Territories experienced stellar growth, hitting 21.2% in 2001 and 20.8% in 2003, spurred by the diamond industry in that territory.

Alberta and Ontario were the strongest performers among the provinces in 2000, with growth of 6.1% and 5.9% respectively. Alberta was buoyed by a strong energy sector, whereas Ontario was partly sustained by strong demand for computers and telecommunications equipment. Nunavut's growth of 8.3% was driven by the mining sector as well as by government spending over the period when the territory was established. Prince Edward Island, weakened by a United States ban on the import of potatoes, had the slowest growth at 1.9%, decelerating along with other Atlantic provinces.

Weak demand for goods and services, both in Canada and the United States resulted in a general slowdown in the Canadian economy in 2001. This slowdown was reflected across the regions, with the exception of Nova Scotia at 2.9% growth and Northwest Territories at 21.2% growth. Nova Scotia's growth was propelled by the strong natural gas industry with the Sable Island project coming on stream. The peak in real GDP growth in the Northwest Territories was driven by investment related to the diamond industry. The economies of Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, both devastated by drought in 2001, recorded growth rates of -1.8% and -0.3%, respectively.

In 2002, the Canadian economy picked up steam, with all provinces east of Ontario having higher growth rates than the national rate of 3.4%. Newfoundland and Labrador stepped away from the rest of the provinces with a remarkable growth rate of 16.7% spurred by crude oil production from the Terra Nova oil field. Saskatchewan's economy contracted further in 2002 as the province was still affected by drought conditions. Although growth in the Northwest Territories slowed for 2002, it was still quite strong relative to the national growth.

Newfoundland and Labrador's 6.8% growth in 2003 led the provinces for a second year running, driven by continued strength in oil production. Saskatchewan recovered after two years of contraction with a growth of 4.5%. The Northwest Territories progressed strongly in 2003, as diamond mining and spin-off industries pushed GDP growth to 20.8%.

Selected components

Wages, salaries and supplementary labour income has generally accounted for approximately 50% of current dollar GDP and this ratio, nationally, has stayed relatively stable over the 2000 to 2003 time period. However, this proportion has varied greatly among the provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador had a high of 48% in 1999, but this dropped to below 40% by 2003—offset by a higher share of corporate profits due to the energy sector's boom. On the other hand, the ratio for Saskatchewan which was 39% in 2000, increased to 42% by 2003 offset by lower farm incomes.

Consumer spending outpaced personal disposable income, bringing down the personal saving rate across the country. Five provinces recorded a negative saving rate in 2003, compared with only two in 2000.

In both Newfoundland and Labrador and Northwest Territories, corporate profits (before taxes) have doubled over the period. On the other hand, Ontario and Alberta recorded declines in corporate profits for two out of the four years, while Nunavut had three years of decline. Accrued net income of farm operators dropped drastically in 2002, as Nova Scotia, Quebec and Alberta each suffered large losses.

Growth in real personal expenditure on consumer goods and services has remained relatively stable across the provinces over the period, with growth between 2.7% and 4.0% nationally. Investment in residential structures has increased rapidly at the Canada level, with housing starts growing by more than 45% from 1999 to 2003. Yukon, New Brunswick and Quebec had the highest provincial growth in residential investment over the period.

Real business investment in non-residential structures declined nationally in 2002, with positive growth occurring only in Ontario, Yukon and Nunavut. Real investment in machinery and equipment recorded strong growth in 2000 and 2003, but fell in 2001 and 2002, constrained by declines in Quebec and Ontario.

At the Canada level, international exports have declined, with 2003 real exports lower than in 2000. This was influenced by a weak US economy as well as the strong Canadian dollar in 2003. Although international exports in the Atlantic provinces and Northwest Territories have grown since 2000, the opposite has been the case in the rest of the country, particularly Quebec and Ontario. Exports from those two provinces were affected by reduced demand for telecommunications equipment and automobiles.

Available on CANSIM: tables 379-0023 to 379-0026, 381-0009 to 381-0014, 383-0009, 383-0010, 384-0001, 384-0002, 384-0004 to 384-0013, 384-0036, 386-0001 and 386-0002.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers, including related surveys, 1303, 1401, 1402 and 1902.

Provincial economic accounts, 2000 to 2003

Revised provincial and territorial economic accounts estimates for 2000, 2001 and 2002 are included with this release. Updated estimates of the preliminary 2003 data that were released on April 28, 2004 are also included.

The provincial and territorial economic accounts includes estimates of the income and the expenditure based GDP, estimates of real GDP, contributions to percent change in real GDP, implicit price indexes, sources and disposition of personal income and government detail tables. The government detail tables include revised revenue and expenditure data for 2000 and 2001 based on public accounts as well as new estimates for 2002.

Summaries by sub-sector of government (federal, provincial, local, Canadian Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan) are provided in tables 6 to 10. Revenue side details are presented in Tables 11 to 13. Table 11 disaggregates direct taxes, social insurance contributions and transfers paid by persons to government. Table 12 presents the components of taxes on production and products, while table 13 lists the sources of government investment income. On the expenditure side, the major transfers to persons are presented in table 14 while subsidies and capital transfers, to both the personal and business sectors, can be found in table 15. Finally, table 16 lists the most important current transfers between levels of governments.

Provincial Economic Accounts: Tables and Analytical Document, 2003 (13-213-PPB, $54; 13-213-DDB, $428) is now available. Diskettes can also be purchased at a lower cost seven business days after the official release date (13-213-XDB, $86). To purchase any of these products, contact the client services officer (613-951-3810; iead-info-dcrd@statcan.gc.ca), Income and Expenditure Accounts Division.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact the information officer (613-951-3640; iead-info-dcrd@statcan.gc.ca), Income and Expenditure Accounts Division.

Provincial gross domestic product by industry

To purchase data on provincial gross domestic product by industry at basic prices, contact the client services officer (1-800-887-IMAD; imad@statcan.gc.ca, Industry Measures and Analysis Division.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact James Nightingale (613-951-2938; james.nightingale@statcan.gc.ca), Industry Measures and Analysis Division.

Labour statistics accounts, revisions 1997 to 2003

Starting today, the Canadian productivity accounts will include revised industry estimates of labour and hours worked, covering the entire Canadian economy, by province and territory, for 1997 to 2003. The breakdown of these estimates by business and non-commercial sectors will be published at the same time as a new provincial database on labour productivity and related variables.

Also released today is a study (11F0027MIE2004024, free) that examines the differences in economic output per person, as measured by GDP per capita, across provinces and territories, from a long-term perspective.

The study finds that through the 1990s and early 2000s Alberta's GDP per capita accelerated past the national average. Over the same period, GDP per capita among the remaining provinces began to converge. Those with the highest levels of GDP per capita in 1990 (Ontario and British Columbia) tended to experience weak GDP per capita growth, while those provinces with relatively low levels of GDP per capita in 1990 (Saskatchewan and the Atlantic Provinces) experienced stronger growth.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality, contact Jean-Pierre Maynard (613-951-3654; fax: 613-951-3292; productivity.measures@statcan.gc.ca), Microeconomic Analysis Divisions.

Provincial input-output tables, 2000 (revised) and 2001 (preliminary)

The national and provincial input-output tables for 2000 (revised) and 2001 (preliminary) are now available on CANSIM.

With this release, certain modifications that were implemented with the provincial input-output tables for 1999 and 2000 in November 2003 have been applied back to 1997.

Revised inter-provincial and international trade data for 2000, as well as preliminary data for 2001, are also available.

A historical set of tables will soon be released for 1961 to 1997 on a Standard Industrial Classification basis.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Ronald Rioux (613-951-3697; fax: 613-951-0489; riouxr@statcan.gc.ca), Input-Output Division.