General

Is it too early to crack open the champagne?

StatsCan says Canada’s recession is officially over

On Monday, it became official: the recession is over. According to Statistics Canada, the Canadian economy grew at an annualized rate of 0.4 per cent during the third quarter, No, it’s not the whopping two per cent that the Bank of Canada had hoped for. But it was still growth—enough to declare an end to the financial downturn. Diane Petramala, an economist at TD Economics, stresses that Canada had a built-in advantage over other countries when it came to recovering: “Canada didn’t have the credit problems that they had in the U.S and elsewhere. That allowed Canadian businesses and consumers to take advantage of low borrowing rates that other countries couldn’t capitalize on.” Still, Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, warns that “Canadians are spending, but not on what we make at home.” The money being channeled towards imported goods, says Shenfeld, will be “an ongoing area of concern.”

Vancouver Sun

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