The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.
Canada’s North is poised to lead the country in economic growth over the next two years as a boom in mining projects takes hold, a new report predicts.
The economies of the three territories are expected to grow by more than 7% in both 2012 and 2013, says the Conference Board of Canada’s Territorial Outlook-Winter 2012, released Wednesday. That easily surpasses the Canadian average of 2.1% this year.
The demand for metals and non-metals is expected to remain high, regardless of the challenges the global economy is facing, according to MarieChristine Bernard, associate director of forecasting and analysis for the Conference Board.
“The territories are wellpositioned to satisfy this demand,” which is expected to keep prices elevated over the next few years, she said.
“That will encourage more exploration activity, more mine developments,” Ms. Bernard said. “This is very positive because when there’s construction and development of mines, it means there’s a lot of jobs being created, then we see incomes go up and consumer demand goes up, so the territories are going to be in a very good position.”
Ms. Bernard said the immediate concern raised for mining-industry development in Canada’s North isn’t finding a market, but rather finding workers capable of propelling these projects forward.
The economies of the Yukon and Nunavut had a strong year in 2011 and are expected to continue to improve. The report says both are entering a period of sustained mining development, citing several large projects that have been proposed for the current decade. The Northwest Territories has yet to reach a point of sustained mining development as older mines are closing and are to be replaced by newer projects.
For the rest of this article, please go to the National Post website: http://www.financialpost.com/todays-paper/Canada+North+cash+mining+boom/6304165/story.html