The economy of Newfoundland and Labrador is once again expected to be near the top this year, with Alberta rebounding from a sub-par year, BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. said in a report Monday.

BMO chief economist Sherry Cooper said after turning in a solid performance in 2002 led by the housing and consumer sectors, gross domestic product growth, however, should slow this year “as rising interest rates take some of the wind out of the housing market and the still-struggling global economy weighs on export sectors.”

BMO noted a “distinct Eastern-tilt to Canada’s robust growth performance” following release Monday of the final GDP results for 2002. Boosted by oil production from Terra Nova, real GDP growth of 13.4% in Newfoundland and Labrador more than doubled the growth of the next fastest province in 2002. Prince Edward Island was a distant second as its economy was helped by better potato production last year. New Brunswick was the only Atlantic Province to experience below-average growth, nonetheless even its growth was more than twice the rates of the prior two years.

Central Canada was robust, with 4.3% growth in Quebec and 3.9% in Ontario. Quebec was led by the strongest residential construction activity in the country, while the solid performance of the auto sector boosted Ontario’s manufacturing sector, BMO said.

Western Canadian growth lagged in 2002, with Saskatchewan experiencing its second year of declining output due to drought conditions that hit the province’s agricultural sector hard. Alberta’s economic growth slowed for a second consecutive year, restrained by declining energy production, and weak investment by the provincial government and energy companies. British Columbia rebounded by a moderate 1.8% from the contraction in 2001, led by the strong housing sector.