Tapping into Northern resources

The Conference Board of Canada is pulling together research from the last decade into a report to better understand economic activity in the nation’s north.

Jacqueline Palladini, an economist and the report’s author, said there is not much data available when it comes to Canada’s northern economies. She said she is hoping that “by estimating the size and scope and scale of northern economies that we could better understand what makes these regions tick.”

“Were hoping this will lead to more research by us and others down the road and can increase the dialog on northern issues,” she said.

A research institute called Center for the North which produces studies, including forecasts for the three territories and economic potential analysis, would benefit from a broader scope of knowledge of the north.

Palladini said there has been a lack of interest in gathering this data in the past despite the many resources in the North.

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The area of Saskatchewan included in the report is Prince Albert and north. According to the document, the area makes up more than half of the province’s land mass despite being only 23.4 per cent of the province’s population.

“The north is very diverse so areas like the Northwest Territories and Northern Alberta have the benefits of all of these natural resources that they can tap into, where the other places were haven’t been able to do that yet.”

Palladini points to good commodity prices as a possible reason why there has been a recent growth of investment into these areas.

sfroese@rawlco.com