British Columbia is but a speck on the global GDP map. “We are 0.3% – in other words, not very significant,” says economist Jock Finlayson. He goes on to point out that our place in the world isn’t about to change. In fact, it’s going to slip. “We are entering a lost decade of real per-capita GDP growth, which means growing real salaries will be challenging.”
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. BC does have some strengths. Finlayson says, “Steady in-migration is creating a positive consumer faced economic setting. We have an educated workforce. There are positive signs in the life sciences and tech sectors. BC has a strong and exceptionally diverse natural resource economy and, importantly, we are the gateway to Asia.”
That’s the good news on the other side of the balance sheet. Finlayson points out, “We are a long way from the economic, political and financial power centres of Canada. The cost of housing is staggering. BC has the highest household debt burden in Canada. When it comes to head offices, there are few and NIMBYism makes getting anything done difficult.”
