Forecast shows Sudbury's economy 'inching forward'

Improving nickel prices could signal good news for Sudbury, according to a recent economic forecast from the Conference Board of Canada.

The not-for-profit think tank recently released an economic outlook for several Canadian cities, including Greater Sudbury.

According to the report, data from the World Bank indicates that nickel prices rose 8 per cent in 2017. Those prices also reached a 30-month high in November.

"The average nickel price is ramping up here, but it's got a long way to go to get to the peak," said Robin Wiebe, a senior economist and one of the authors of the report.

Demand for nickel on the rise

In the last ten years of data, Wiebe said nickel prices peaked in 2010 and 2011 and were followed by a relatively soft market for several years.

That's starting to change as demand for the mineral increases, which Wiebe attributes in part to the production of electric cars that use lithium batteries containing nickel.

The renewed demand is a good sign for local mining companies, according to Bruce Jago, of the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian University.

"When you decide whether or not you're going to mine a block of ground underground, you look if you're going to get any positive value from it," Jago said.

"As the price of nickel goes up, you can gradually afford more and more of the material that you had to leave behind before."

He added that although the recovering nickel market is a good sign, it's difficult to predict if it will ultimately lead to more jobs in the industry, due to other contributing factors like automation.

Economy has good and bad points

But Wiebe said that nickel has historically been a good indicator for Sudbury, often paralleling trends in the overall economy.

"As nickel goes, so goes Sudbury," he explained. "Nickel isn't quite back where it was, so Sudbury isn't quite back where it was either."

In addition to nickel prices, the economic outlook points to potential gains in employment in the service sector.

But those improvements are dampened by continued outmigration, keeping the overall population stagnant.

Wiebe said he's also interested in the impact a number of large construction projects could have on the economy, including the Maley Drive extension, Place des Arts, the upcoming Kingsway arena and the proposed downtown convention centre.

"Sudbury's got some good points and it's got some bad points, I think that's fair to say."