The most surprising development in Canada's economy last year was not the spike in oil prices or the fallout from the U.S. housing bubble burst, according to a report.
Rather, it was the fact that Canadians demonstrated an ability to react and adapt to changing circumstances, according to a new two-year study from Statistics Canada, which says many people underestimated Canadians' ability to do just that.
The most dramatic example of Canadians ability to adapt quickly is the increased migration of people last year to oil-rich Alberta.
"Alberta proved to be an increasingly attractive destination for people from all provinces. It received a net inflow of 57,105 people from other provinces, the largest inter-provincial movement of people to one province on record back to 1972," stated a summary of the StatsCan report.
The study also says that Alberta's booming economy, which continues to drive Canadian growth, is the biggest economic story of 2006.
"The development of the oil sands in northern Alberta remained the dominant trend in the energy sector, reshaping Canada's economic geography," the report finds.
"Firms continued to pour money into these investments, tripling from $5.2 billion when the current surge in oil prices began in 2003 to a planned $16.1 billion in 2007."
Alberta also recorded its lowest unemployment rate since 1981 with 66,800 despite a population growth of 47 per cent, or nearly 1 million people in the past 25 years.
The report says that in any other year, B.C. would have been the provincial success story. Employment in that province grew by 3.1 per cent last year, after growing by 3.3 per cent in 2005.
Nationwide, Canada's economic growth has remained "remarkably stable" since 2003, despite a number of economic setbacks in recent years which in the past could have led to a slowdown or recession.
Those perceived hurdles include a slump in the automobile and housing markets.
"Real gross domestic product expanded 2.7 per cent, only marginally less than the 2.9 per cent gain in 2005, despite a mid-year slowdown. This rate of growth was exactly the same as the average annual gain since 2003."
