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Durham Manufacturing Outlook
P
lagued all summer by a high Canadian dollar and increasingly expensive energy costs, the local manufacturing industry is still managing to defy sagging provincial trends. A report by the Conference Board of Canada found that despite a general slowdown in the Ontario manufacturing industry, Durham's local sector remained steady and strong. In fact, manufacturing output grew by a healthy 5.4% last year.
Alan Arcand, author of the report, says the positive outcome means that the local sector "has been better able to adjust to a higher dollar."
The report studied 20 of Canada's largest Census Metropolitan Areas, including the Oshawa CMA -- which consists of the City of Oshawa, the Town of Whitby, and the Municipality of Clarington.
"Oshawa's doing pretty well," Mr. Arcand said. "Especially compared to economies that, like Oshawa, have a big manufacturing sector."
And although 2006 will be a year of slower growth for Oshawa, which has enjoyed 10 years of strong economic results, Mr. Arcand predicts only sunny skies for the next three years.
Beginning in 2007, the Oshawa CMA is forecast to post the strongest average annual growth rate among all CMAs in the quarterly study. The report cites two major reasons for the strong showing: steady population growth and a slowly-improving manufacturing sector.
Liisa Ikavalko, senior economic development officer for the Region, says that the local manufacturing sector has been thriving.
"It has been pretty steady and pretty busy," she said.
For General Motors, 2006 is slated as a year of transition -- with the truck plant currently being retooled to build the new generation of GM pickups and the car plant being redesigned as a flex facility -- causing manufacturing output to slow to three per cent.
But, Mr. Arcand says, it will pick up when production of the new models begins next year, reaching a strong 4 per cent in 2007. The Conference Board anticipates that output will average 3.9 per cent per year from 2008 to 2010.
Ms. Ikavalko says that the main reason for the sunny predictions is GM's announcements of future investment in Oshawa.
"One of the best things that happens in a community is when there are many of these types of investments being made and publicized, is an increase in the confidence in the community," she said. "It really does affect people in their everyday lives. You see it in spending habits, you see it in entertainment habits. People will go to the movies because they are confident they will still have a job."
September 28, 2006 in Durham Real Estate Update | Permalink
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