Economic output in Western Canada boomed last year, while growth everywhere east of Saskatchewan was below the national average, according to revised data for provincial and territorial gross domestic product (GDP).
Nationally, real gross domestic product sat at 2.9 percent in 2004, up from 2.0 percent in 2003. The pace of growth in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, the Yukon, Northwest Territories all settled above the national average.
Output was particularly strong in Alberta, where growth was well above the national average, settling in at 4.3 percent. Record oil prices and foreign demand stimulated growth in the energy sector that rippled throughout Alberta's economy.
Production of diamonds jumped again in the Northwest Territories and fuelled growth in all sectors of the territory's economy pushing the economy ahead 5.2 percent, the highest pace of growth in the country.
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