indicatorThe Twenty-Four

Calgary leads Canada’s large metros in economic output

GDP per capita in Calgary was over $14,000 higher than the average across Canada's large cities

By Rob Roach, ATB Economics 13 December 2022 1 min read

Newly released data from Statistics Canada allows us to compare the annual economic output of Canada’s census metropolitan areas* (CMAs) as of 2019.

Adjusting for population size, Calgary produced the most GDP out of Canada’s 35 CMAs in 2019.

Nominal GDP per resident of the Calgary CMA in 2019 was $73,466.

Edmonton was sixth on the list at $63,464 and Lethbridge was 18th at $53,125.

The areas outside Alberta’s CMAs had a higher level of economic output per person than the big cities at $101,772 versus $67,950 for the three metros.

The higher level of GDP per person outside Alberta’s CMAs is largely due to oil and gas activity with agriculture also playing a key role.

Nationally, GDP per capita across all CMAs was $59,330 compared to $52,848 outside them.

The Toronto CMA has the largest total GDP of any CMA at $442.2 billion. Calgary was fourth on the list at $111.3 billion (after Montreal and Vancouver) and Edmonton fifth at $91.6 billion.

*A census metropolitan area (CMA) is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre (known as the core). A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more must live in the core. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the core, as measured by commuting flows derived from data on place of work.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The Chinese invented an early form of bacon when they started preserving pork with salt around 1500 BCE.

Today’s trivia question: Which has the larger area: the Census Metropolitan Area of Calgary or the Census Metropolitan Area of Edmonton?

The price of wheat, barley and canola has come down from record highs set in June 2022

The CMA of Calgary had the highest GDP per capita of any CMA in the country in 2019


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