The BCREA Nowcast estimate of provincial economic growth (expressed as year-over-year growth in real GDP) for February is 2.2 per cent. For comparison, year-over-year growth in the Canadian economy in February was 0.8 per cent. The uptick in February seems to be a one-off, with our preliminary estimate for March showing growth slowing back to 1.2 per cent year-over-year.

At a regional level, our economic region nowcasts continue to show strong growth in the Lower Mainland and the Vancouver Island regions but sluggish in the Kootenay. Growth in the Northern region is showing a strong recovery. Still, our tracking measure for the Thompson Okanagan economy continues to show significant weakness, with an estimated contraction of the economy for a second straight month compared to one year ago.

To view the full interactive BCREA Nowcast, click here.
To download the PDF, click here.

Growth of provincial GDP is a key indicator of economic activity, but provincial GDP data is only available annually and with a considerable delay. That's why we developed the BCREA Nowcast – a tool for tracking monthly growth in the BC Economy. The Nowcast compiles monthly economic data into one easy to understand number, expressed as the year-over-year growth in the BC economy.

As the underlying economic data is released with a one- or two-month lag, our estimates for monthly growth will also lag real-time by two months (e.g., estimated growth in January will be published at the end of March). There are no adjustments to the model estimate except for those due to revisions to the underlying data.

For more information, please contact:
Brendon Ogmundson
Chief Economist
Direct: 604.742.2796
Mobile: 604.505.6793
Email: [email protected]

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