The extent of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies across Canadian provinces and territories over the last year continues to show negative trends.
Statistics Canada has released its full report on real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers across the country for 2020 and Canada did not fare well.
The numbers are preliminary and final counts won’t arrive until November, but overall, the national GDP for Canada fell by 5.3 percent.
According to the report, “for most provinces, the economic contraction in 2020 was the most severe observed in 40 years.”
The agency says factors such as travel restrictions, forced business closures, and other COVID-19 measures took their tolls on almost every industry.
Alberta’s economy shrank $27.3 billion (8.2 percent) in 2020, making it the hardest hit of the 10 provinces and second-worst in Canada only to the Northwest Territories, which dropped 10.4%.
The sector that contributed the most to this change was mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction. That industry led to an overall drop in the province’s GDP of 2.07 percent.
“Oil and gas extraction decreased 6.4 percent as a result of weak demand and a glut of oil on world market,” Statistics Canada wrote. “Oilsands extraction dropped 5.6 percent — the first drop for this industry since 2007 when separate estimates for oilsands were first compiled. Support activities for oil and gas extraction were down 40.8 percent.”
Other sectors that saw declines in Alberta were construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, transportation, health, and educational services.
Meanwhile, crop production — including cannabis — as well as finance and insurance all increased in the province.
Results for Alberta’s industries for 2020:
- Crop production: +8.9 percent
- Finance and insurance: +5.5 percent
- Retail trade: -4 percent
- Health and social assistance: -6.3 percent
- Oil and gas extraction: -6.4 percent
- Educational services: -7.4 percent
- Wholesale trade: -7.5 percent
- Manufacturing: -9.8 percent
- Truck transportation: -11.8 percent
Across Canada, only the territories of Yukon and Nunavut saw GDP rise, while the rest of the country saw GDP numbers fall.
GDP numbers across Canada for 2020:
- Canada overall: -5.3 percent
- Northwest Territories: -10.4 percent
- Alberta: -8.2 percent
- Newfoundland and Labrador: -5.3 percent
- Quebec: -5.3 percent
- Saskatchewan: -5.2 percent
- Ontario: -5.0 percent
- Manitoba: -4.8 percent
- British Columbia: -3.8 percent
- New Brunswick: -3.7 percent
- Nova Scotia: -3.2 percent
- Prince Edward Island: -3 percent
- Yukon: +1.1 percent
- Nunavut: +3.5 percent