Canada: GDP growth picks up in February; flash estimate points to solid growth in March
The economy expanded 1.1% on a month-on-month seasonally-adjusted basis in February, marking the fastest reading since March 2021 (January: 0.2% month-on-month).
The reading was driven by broad-based growth, with both the services and goods-producing industries registering strong expansions. The accommodation and food services subsector saw a particularly strong rebound, thanks to the easing of the Omicron wave and the concurrent loosening of restrictions. Moreover, the energy sector was up markedly, after poor weather and Omicron had hampered output in January.
According to flash estimates, the statistical office expects the economy to have grown 0.5% in March and 1.4% in Q1 as a whole over Q4, as the impact of the pandemic continued to ease towards the end of the quarter.
FocusEconomics analysts project growth of 3.9% in 2022, which is down 0.1 percentage points from last month. In 2023, our analysts see growth easing to 3.0%.