In this election year, the government of François Legault is lucky.
In 2022, Quebec will set an all-time record for private and public investment in non-residential fixed assets.
This suggests that Quebec’s economy is doing well. Actually very good.
Like what if the building goes, everything goes! With polls pointing to an overwhelming victory for the Caquisten, that’s a saying that fits them like a glove.
According to the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ), spending on “non-residential fixed assets” will reach $53.1 billion this year, up $5.6 billion from 2021. Up 11, 8th %.
“Non-residential property, plant and equipment,” explains the ISQ, includes permanent assets such as: buildings, engineering works, equipment and tools.
BREAKDOWN OF EXPENSES
$53 billion in spending in 2022 breaks down as follows in terms of assets:
- Construction spending: $34.4 billion
- Equipment and Tooling Spending: $18.4 billion
In terms of industry, the ‘goods’ sector accounts for US$18.5 billion in non-residential capital expenditures and the ‘services’ sector attracts US$34.6 billion in spending.
In terms of property, the “private” sector plans to spend $25.6 billion this year, including $5 billion from foreign companies and $20.6 billion from Canadian-controlled companies.
In turn, the “public” sector – federal, state and local governments – plans to invest $27.5 billion.
On the “administrative regions” side, these are those that will monopolize the highest non-residential fixed asset spending in 2022:
- Montreal: $16.1 billion
- Monteregie: $6.5 billion
- Capitale Nationale: $4.7 billion
- North Shore: $2.6 billion
- Laurentians: $2.6 billion
- Saguenay–Lac-St-Jean: $2.4 billion
- Estrie: $2.3 billion
- Abitibi-Témiscamingue: $2.2 billion
Incidentally, this is the first time in Quebec’s history that we will exceed $50 billion in capital expenditures!
CAQUISTS against LIBERALS
In the four years of François Legault’s CAQ rule, private and public investment in tangible assets will total $190 billion.
It’s still 40 billion more, even 27% more than under the previous liberal rule of Philippe Couillard. From 2015 to 2018, capital expenditures totaled $150 billion.
Summary of capital spending over the past four years under the Legault government:
- 2019: $45.8 billion
- 2020: $43.2 billion
- 2021: $47.5 billion
- 2022: $53.1 billion
Even in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, capital spending has remained surprisingly high.
CANADIAN BEMOL
Although Quebec has set an all-time high in terms of capital expenditure on non-residential real estate, plant and equipment this year, the fact remains that its spending level accounts for just 17.8% of all Canadian spending and will reach $298 billion by the end of this year .
This is significantly less than the weight (22.8%) of the Quebec population in Canada.
We can always compare ourselves to Ontario, whose capital spending ($99 billion) accounts for 33.1% of Canada’s total spending, or 5.7 percentage points less than the weight of its population (38.8%).
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that in Alberta, Canada’s oil kingdom, the weight of capital spending (19% of Canada) far outstrips the province’s demographic weight (11.6%).
In 2022, capital spending in Alberta will reach $57 billion.
It’s good.
But it’s still $40 billion down from 2014
