OREANDA-NEWS. Canada's strong seven provinces are on pace to balance the effects of a disappointing year in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland & Labrador, according to forecasts from the 2016 BMO Blue Book released today. However, those regions have weathered similar challenges before, and there is still reason for optimism outside B.C. and Central Canada.

The BMO Blue Book is published by BMO Capital Markets Economics and BMO Commercial Banking. Much like the U.S. Federal Reserve's Beige Book, the BMO Blue Book combines the expertise of BMO's economists with information on current national and provincial business conditions provided to BMO's commercial bankers by local businesspeople. The Blue Book features a report for Canada at large, each province and the Greater Toronto Area.

While areas with more diverse resource bases have accelerated in spite of major cutbacks in the energy sector, the business climate remains promising, especially within the agriculture, construction, innovation and tourism sectors across the country.

"While growth at the national level looks subdued but relatively undramatic, conditions at the provincial levels range from strong growth to outright recession," said Robert Kavcic, Senior Economist, BMO Capital Markets. "Notable is the fact that regional economic growth drivers of the past decade have receded to the back of the pack, while past laggards move into a new leadership role."

Despite a challenging economic situation, overall, opportunities continue to grow for Canadian business owners.

"Even those whose businesses have been affected by oil and gas are embracing opportunities that a low dollar and equally low interest rates have presented," said Andrew Irvine, Head of Canadian Commercial Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal. "If we have one takeaway from our commercial clients nationwide, it's that those who have made a point in investing in their operations, in times like this, see increased productivity and impressive returns on their investments for years to come."