The economy in British Columbia is set to accelerate and is expected to surpass growth rates seen last year, RBC announced June 11.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow by 2.1% in 2014, compared with 1.7% last year, RBC said in its latest RBC Economics Provincial Outlook. Real GDP is expected to increase another 2.8% in 2015.
“British Columbia’s economy will benefit from increased demand from abroad as export markets pick-up, particularly as the U.S. economy gathers steam,” said RBC senior vice-president and chief economist Craig Wright.
This growth will come in spite of the strike at Port Metro Vancouver in March, which caused outbound container traffic to drop by more than 50%.
Steady recovery in the U.S. housing market will drive an increase in softwood lumber and plywood exports over the remainder of the year. Shipments to China are also expected to support overall GDP growth.
“Gains in exports will be augmented in 2015 by the preliminary ramp up work on multi-billion dollar LNG projects in the province,” said Wright.
RBC said that if any LNG project investment decisions are announced by the end of 2014, the province will likely not see any large-scale investment for many years.
