Canadian Provincial Growth Rate Maps

[Sol]

Have the Atlantic provinces always had such slow growth? What reasons are there for that?

Their economy is quite bad, and many of the trends causing their decline have been going on for a long time. An unexpectedly good comparison is the Great Plains states; geographically removed from nearby population centers, reliant on major industries which have seen some decline (farming/fishing) and kept afloat by resource extraction, and in the case of the Maritimes, tourism.