Alberta on the verge of boom

[Azure]

Apparently the boom is already happening.

Activity in Canada’s oil industry in the third quarter reached its highest level in years, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

The rate of industrial capacity utilization reached 88.2 per cent, the data agency said.

That’s a measure of how close a sector is running to total capacity. The higher the rate, the less capital and equipment sitting idle. The rate rose from 75.7 per cent two years ago.

The figures came a day after the government of Alberta reported 2011 was a record year for revenues from the sale of drilling rights on Crown land.

The province brought in $3.54 billion for the year. That broke the previous record of $2.39 billion paid by companies in 2010.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...-drilling.html

[HotHotHeat]

I hate to sound like a redneck, but damn it feels good to know we can still prosper during a time where all those uneducated environmentalists seem to have it out for our province .

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

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.

My excavators, framers, form workers, roofers, gas line, hardwood layer they have all been late.

Good news for me if the kitchen guys are working on time though.

I am a month behind on a 4 month job

[Ozy_Flame]

As an IT consultant, the oil industry is doing wonders for long-term, lucrative contracts. Our Ontario and BC offices don't have near the opportunities that Alberta affords.

Then again, old people who don't know computers are everywhere.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

As an IT consultant, the oil industry is doing wonders for long-term, lucrative contracts. Our Ontario and BC offices don't have near the opportunities that Alberta affords.

Then again, old people who don't know computers are everywhere.

i'm not a consultant, but i do work in IT and am an employee of an O&G company. the amount of growth we're going through just to try and keep up with the rest of the company is staggering

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

What's the outlook for teaching jobs between 2014-2015?

I believe the outlook is: it's union, so you're starting at the bottom fighting for any work you can get. Same as every other year.

[darklord700]

Is this boom Calgary specific? How about Edmont's outlook?

[Julio]

This has IMO been going on since the spring...I work in a service industry, and really started to notice then that the quality of staff we had coming in was starting to degrade...and I found last boom that we were the canary in the coal mine on this.

[blackgold]

Originally Posted by darklord700

Is this boom Calgary specific? How about Edmont's outlook?

Edmonton is booming. I work for a company heavily reliant on O&G and we've never been busier.

[First Lady]

An indication I've seen is that for the first time in over 2 years my husband is working (O & G) in Alberta rather than State side.

Nice to have him in same country and timezone; he's still hundreds of miles away, but better than 1000's.

[burn_this_city]

I work in the Oilsands industry and we're going flat out. It's remeniscent of a couple years ago when things were booming. So long as oil stays above $75 projects will be going full bore.

[InSutterWeTrust]

I do recruiting for a warehouse/transportation company and since about May recruiting has been non-stop. The signs have been there. People not showing for interviews, people not showing for first day of work. From 2009-2010 I could probably count one 1 hand the number of no shows for interviews, now I'm reaching those numbers monthly.
Plus seeing more signs on the side of the road about "x company now hiring".

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

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.

In short, yes. The Framework for Growth and Change is all about growing in a more sustainable manner. The other key document is Calgary's Municipal Development Plan - which is Calgary's city-wide land use plan. It calls for a more compact form of growth and growth patterns tied very closely to our transit network. Another key driver is to redevelop exisiting built up areas (Downtown, in inner city areas, around transit stations etc) rather than grow exclusively outward.

Calgary's MDP
http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/LUPP/Docum...pment-plan.pdf

Framework for Growth and Change
http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/DBA/Pages/...nd-Change.aspx

Another big project will be taking a very close look at our planning processes and regulations (such as planning at the neighbourhood level) to make sure we can evolve them to better match them to achieve the outcomes and vision we have for the city. The problem is, many current regulations make it difficult to build the kind of City we have been doing a lot of talking about in the past several years.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Another big project will be taking a very close look at our planning processes and regulations (such as planning at the neighbourhood level) to make sure we can evolve them to better match them to achieve the outcomes and vision we have for the city. The problem is, many current regulations make it difficult to build the kind of City we have been doing a lot of talking about in the past several years.

Awesome, thanks so much! I would love to see those challenges presented, because during a lot of the discussion of adopting PlanIt into the city planning policy, there was whispers of that argument being presented and it was difficult to see the comparison. I had formulated the idea that Calgary grew outwards because it was simply easier to do so (from a permitting standpoint), and that is was not necessarily based on the natural demand of the potential homebuyers and citizens of Calgary in general.

Honestly, fix that... and I think we will be able to attract and retain more people that actually want to be here instead of people that are just moving through to make a quick buck and then buy their castle where ever "back home" is. Should make more an exciting change in the city!

[burn_baby_burn]

I'm not looking forward to the boom. Customer service gets flushed down the toilet when their is a labor shortage.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I'm not looking forward to the boom. Customer service gets flushed down the toilet when their is a labor shortage.

No offense, but that comes off a little selfish. It's going to be terrible having people be able to provide for their families, who were struggling to before, because your meal might come out a little slower.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by darklord700

Is this boom Calgary specific? How about Edmont's outlook?

Outlook for Edmonton: 80% chance of sweatpants with scattered mullets.