BCREA Nowcast

The BCREA Nowcast estimate of provincial economic growth (expressed as year-over-year growth in real GDP) for June is 1.2 per cent. For comparison, year-over-year growth in the Canadian economy in June was 1.1 per cent. The preliminary estimate for July shows a slight uptick in year-over-year growth to 1.8 per cent. The average annual growth through the first half of 2023 is estimated at 1.9 per cent.

The BCREA Nowcast now also includes regional growth trends, grouped into five regions: Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, Thompson Okanagan, Kootenay, and the North. Those regional nowcasts show growth slowing in all regions, but slipping into negative territory for both the North and the Kootenay.

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]