← Latest briefing

Business & Finance

Canada's economy rebounds with 3.3% annualized growth in second quarter

Strong exports and domestic demand helped the country avoid a technical recession, though fresh US tariffs loom over the recovery.

The short version

  • Canada's GDP grew at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent in the second quarter, marking its fastest growth rate since 2023.
  • Upwardly revised figures for the first quarter indicate that Canada successfully avoided a technical recession.
  • Economists warn that a new 50 percent US tariff on $20 billion of Canadian exports, along with Canadian retaliation, will likely slow growth in the coming quarters.

Key facts

  • Statistics Canada reported that Canada's economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent in the second quarter, beating the Bank of Canada's July forecast of 2.5 percent.[Al Jazeera]
  • First-quarter growth was revised upward to 0.3 percent, which means Canada avoided two consecutive quarters of contraction.[Al Jazeera]
  • Exports increased by 3.6 percent in the second quarter, registering the largest quarterly jump in outbound shipments in more than three years.[Al Jazeera]
  • Household consumption spending rose by 0.8 percent, and business investment expanded by 2.3 percent after contraction in previous quarters.[Al Jazeera]
  • US President Donald Trump imposed a new 50 percent import tariff on $20 billion of Canadian exports, prompting retaliatory countermeasures from Canada.[Al Jazeera]

What remains uncertain

  • Economists note that the newly introduced bilateral tariffs and escalating trade tensions make the future economic outlook highly uncertain, with growth projected to slow.[Al Jazeera]

Sources