Normally I'd rather link stuff with a bit more substance, but hey, I don't want to just blindly link "only bad stuff." Minor joking aside, most things I have seen certainly do have Alberta leading the pack in growth/potential in the near term.
There are definitely starting to be signs of labour shortages in some fields. (Oilfield equipment I could get in stock now takes 14 weeks to get built, etc). On the other hand, it seems like residential construction type work is still in the doldrums. Calls for contractors/trades to do renos are getting returned the same day, with people eager to give quotes the next day.
There are definitely starting to be signs of labour shortages in some fields. (Oilfield equipment I could get in stock now takes 14 weeks to get built, etc). On the other hand, it seems like residential construction type work is still in the doldrums. Calls for contractors/trades to do renos are getting returned the same day, with people eager to give quotes the next day.
We are in the middle of major renos and we are still having trouble getting these guys to show up on the correct days though.
They are always in the middle of another job.
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Anybody know more about this "city meeting" today? I wonder what advice the Chamber of Commerce gave to the city about building future communities.
It was a committee meeting about the "framework for growth" in Calgary. It basically sets out criteria to decide where the city will grow and in what sequence. One of the main drivers is infrastructure. New communities that have access to existing infrastructure including water and sewer and transportation will be prioritized. Areas within the existing built up area will also be prioritized for capital infrastucture investmentment based on a number of factors including market pressures.
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We are in the middle of major renos and we are still having trouble getting these guys to show up on the correct days though.
They are always in the middle of another job.
Interesting. I called a granite place a week ago monday, had the templaters there Tuesday, and they installed the granite this Monday. (Smallish job) 1 week turnaround and it looks great. The other places I called were also eager for the business. A similar job I did in 2008 had a 2 month lag to get the templaters out.
Pretty much every oil sands company has jacked their spending for 2012 significantly so I would imagine that would translate into a tighter labour market. It won't be as crazy as 2006-2008 though because gas related spending is down as well as electricity prices. I think a lot of companies have learned to avoid the 'free-for-all' approach to hiring of crews and rapid development as that approach ended up not being as economic on a full cycle basis.
Pretty much every oil sands company has jacked their spending for 2012 significantly so I would imagine that would translate into a tighter labour market. It won't be as crazy as 2006-2008 though because gas related spending is down as well as electricity prices. I think a lot of companies have learned to avoid the 'free-for-all' approach to hiring of crews and rapid development as that approach ended up not being as economic on a full cycle basis.
Gas being down is definitely freeing up people to do oil/oilsands work. I would say electricity prices are pretty high right now, though.
I've increased number of employees by 25% over the past year and I am booking into 2013 at the moment in oil and gas manufacturing. I've been flat out for the past 6 months. I don't have enough manufacturing space and am looking to expand ASAP.
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I'm talking to a lot of O+G and project based companies and it seems like most of them are rapidly outgrowing their business practices and accounting systems.
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when johnny consumer stops complaining about the price of pop at the liquorstore then we will know that the boom is officially back on......
hopefully our economists can add up the number of homes actually sold correctly (i would suggest that the use the autosum feature on excel - but i ain't no economist)
It was a committee meeting about the "framework for growth" in Calgary. It basically sets out criteria to decide where the city will grow and in what sequence. One of the main drivers is infrastructure. New communities that have access to existing infrastructure including water and sewer and transportation will be prioritized. Areas within the existing built up area will also be prioritized for capital infrastucture investmentment based on a number of factors including market pressures.
So... are Smart Growth principles being implemented in these plans? Something that never quite sat right with me growing up here was how Calgary seemed to be happy with letting outward growth be the answer for handling booms. It adds this massive pressure on infrastructure development, and leaves a skeleton in place that is not really economically sustainable in "lean times".
I'm no urban planner, but I've always wondered what Calgary could do in order to be able to embrace the boom/bust economy of the Province a little better and incorporate that into our ability to grow as a city. A lot of it is my own ignorance about what it takes to build here. For instance, is it as easy for a developer to identify brownfield projects for gentrification in existing areas as it is to go in and develop a new community? I know the economics of these things are quite different, especially with scale, but if the project is designed right.. the ROIs could be similar. Perhaps there could even be incentive for more brownfield development if the city partnered with such projects in some way (i.e. brining land to the table, participating with equity) and actually received a return on the project that go beyond the projected revenue from property tax...
Bunk, you'd be better than anyone on this board to enlighten me on these sort of questions. Is there anything the city publishes that could answer some of these questions? I used to go to events that groups like ImagineCalgary put on and that was a good source. I should get back into that kind of stuff for sure.
Alberta on the verge of boom
Minor joking aside, most things I have seen certainly do have Alberta leading the pack in growth/potential in the near term.
