GDP Per Capita: Better, But Don’t Be Complacent

Statistics Canada recently revised up GDP numbers for the 2022-2024 period. Happily, the revision suggests Canada’s economy was a bit stronger than previously thought. We should not be complacent, however. Before the revision, GDP per capita was about where it had been in 2017. After the revision, it is only slightly better than 2017, which is […]

Not So Fast on the GDP Champagne Toasts

From: Peter MacKenzie and Mawakina Bafale To: Economy watchersDate: December 12, 2025Re: Not So Fast on the GDP Champagne Toasts Last month’s third-quarter gross domestic product numbers showed a surprisingly positive 2.6-percent annualized headline number after a weak second quarter had many observers fearing the long-awaited trade war recession had begun. Adding to the supposed positive […]

Is it really time to pop the champagne for the Canadian economy?

Published in The Globe and Mail. Third-quarter gross domestic product numbers released last week showed a surprisingly positive 2.6-per-cent annualized headline number after a weak second quarter had many observers fearing the long-awaited trade war recession had begun. Adding to the supposed positive news were recent revisions to previous years’ GDP estimates, which show a rosier story for […]

Business Insolvencies Climb to a 10-Year High

Business insolvencies surged to 6,188 in 2024 – the highest level in the past 10 years and a 150 percent increase from the 2021 low. As government support programs ended and interest rates climbed, insolvencies rebounded sharply. While data for 2025 to date suggests some stabilization, insolvencies are on pace to remain well above pre-pandemic norms […]

Canadian Economy Contracts, But Does Not Meet Recession Definition

Canada’s real gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2025, driven by a 7.5 percent drop in exports and a 9.4 percent drop in investment in machinery and equipment. The decline was steeper than had been forecast, prompting the Bank of Canada to cut its policy rate. The drop […]

Canada Is Not in a Recession Despite GDP Decline, Council Finds

September 22, 2025 – Canada’s economy shrank in the second quarter of 2025, but conditions do not yet meet the definition of a recession, according to a new CommuniquĂ© from the C.D. Howe Institute’s Business Cycle Council (BCC). In “Canadian Economy Contracts, But Does Not Meet Recession Definition,” the Council notes that real GDP fell […]

Jeremy M. Kronick and Steve Ambler – Sooner Rather than Later Needed for More Rate Cuts

To: Inflation Watchers From: Jeremy M. Kronick and Steve Ambler Date: October 28, 2024 Re: Sooner Rather than Later Needed for More Rate Cuts The inflation beast is looking considerably weaker. Between the Bank of Canada’s rate announcement on September 4 and its announcement last Wednesday, Statistics Canada released two of its monthly reports on the consumer price index. They […]

Kronick, Ambler – Predicting (and Confirming) Business Cycles in Canada

To: Recession forecasters From: Jeremy M. Kronick and Steve Ambler Date: May 24, 2024 Re: Predicting (and Confirming) Business Cycles in Canada A recent staff working paper by Temel Taskin and Franz Ulrich Ruch at the Bank of Canada uses a sophisticated model – a dynamic autoregressive (AR) probit model – and business cycle turning points published by the C.D. Howe […]

Business Cycle Council

Comprised of our country’s preeminent economists, the C.D. Howe Institute’s Business Cycle Council is an arbiter of business cycle dates in Canada. The Council meets annually, or when economic conditions indicate the possibility of entry to, or exit from, a recession, and acts as a conduit for understanding how the economy evolves.The Council performs a similar […]

Canada Dodged Recession, Risks Remain in 2024

March 27, 2024 – Canada avoided a recession in the last two years but risks remain for 2024, according to the C.D. Howe Institute’s Business Cycle Council (BCC). 

In “So Far, So Good: C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council Declares Recession Avoided in 2022, 2023,” members of the BCC examined if a recession had occurred in the past two years and found that the Canadian economy did not fulfill the conditions required to indicate a recession.

C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council (BCC) is an authoritative arbiter of business cycle dates in Canada. The BCC meets when economic conditions indicate the possibility of entry to, or exit from, a recession and acts as a conduit for research aimed at developing a deeper…

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