Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to hold an emergency debate on the economy after Canada slipped into a technical recession by some definitions.
Statistics Canada said Friday that the country’s GDP fell 0.1 per cent on an annualized basis in the first quarter of 2026, which follows a revised one per cent annualized decline in the fourth quarter of 2025. A technical recession is most commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.
“On Friday, you became the only leader in the G7 to have taken your country into a recession,” Poilievre wrote in a letter to Carney published on Sunday. “You promised you would deliver the fastest-growing economy in the G7. You delivered the only recession in the G7.”
Poilievre went on to say “excuses” about U.S.-imposed tariffs on various Canadian industry sectors and the Iran war “do not work either.” The Conservative leader noted other G7 countries have not fallen into a recession even under tariffs and the effects of the war in Iran.
Global News has reached out to the federal government for a response to Poilievre’s call.
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Following Friday’s report, some economists argued the weakness in the economy may not necessarily qualify as a recession.
The decline in real GDP last quarter was basically zero, TD economist Marc Ercolao told The Canadian Press. He also noted unexpected weakness in government spending, which was strong through 2025, explained the lower result seen in the first quarter.
BMO chief economist Doug Porter said in a note to clients the institution would say “no, not really,” if asked whether the recent declines in GDP equal a recession, but he backed the argument the economy has struggled to “make any headway” in the past year.
While debate continues on whether Canada is in a recession, Poilievre pointed to other issues facing Canadians.
Among them, he pointed to an Equifax report showing insolvency volumes up nearly 19 per cent year-over-year, thousands of job losses in the first three months of 2026, and a report from Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank saying one-tenth of GTA residents are now using a food bank.
“As you can see, the two back-to-back quarters of declining GDP are not a fluke, anomaly or technicality. It is one of an avalanche of proof showing a collapsing economy with fast-rising costs,” Poilievre wrote.
“The recession is real.”
Sunday’s letter echoes comments Poilievre made on Friday after Statistics Canada released its data, saying his party was calling for Carney to introduce a bill to “reverse all of the economic policies his party has introduced over the last decade.”
Friday’s data further cemented predictions from economists such as Porter that the Bank of Canada will likely keep interest rates where they are for the foreseeable future.
In his note, Porter also said the soft first-quarter GDP figures will likely put a “wet blanket” over rate-hike talk in financial markets, “as the economy is in no condition to deal with higher rates.”
—with files from Ariel Rabinovitch and The Canadian Press
Elbows Up Carney hasn’t reduce one tariff line item yet. He loves speeches but for far has no value to show for
Carney isn’t delivering as promised and it must be discussed. He isn’t about review or criticism. After a year, he has delivered nothing of substance on the important file of USA trade
Pierre Poilievre uses adversarial parliamentary debates primarily to score political points, damage the government, and rally voters rather than to build cross-party consensus or find non-partisan solutions.
What morons vote for PP ???? Their brains must be like scrambled eggs. Carney is not perfect but way more educated and world-wise than PP will ever be! Heaven help us (which I doubt would ever happen ) if PP the Paper Boy was ever elected PM, shudder at the thought of that catastrophe !!
How’s your war Tony Fuda the Russkie?
350,000 dead russians?
Tony Fuda is actually Peter Belinski, a Russian COWARD who trolls Canada instead of fighting in Ukraine.
Chicken hawk or what?
Let’s debate as PP knows how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz….
bwahahahahahahahahahahaha…
Yes Eddie is certifiable.
If Canadas economy hurting so bad because of Trump tariffs, why haven’t Carney or Leblanc met with the USA in months. Total dereliction of duty by the Canadian officials
Carney won’t show up for the debate regardless as he still has no plan after a year. All talk and no action.
Hilarious Putin trolls…sounds like their bleating has no effect at all on Carney’s poll numbers (67%)
Same with this PP. Call for an election! LOL
When Canadians are asked directly who they prefer to see leading the country, Carney commands a dominant lead:
Mark Carney: 55%
Pierre Poilievre: 22%
Carney Lead: +33 points
@Eddie: Are you nuts?
@Sean Carney hasn’t delivered anything and has been PM now over a year. He will be judged on the completion on his promises to the Canadian electorate.
John Emerson has no understanding of geopolitics or the global economy.
Eastern Canadians fell for the lies again there is no limit to their stupidity or naïveté we must have Western Separation.
@Tony Fuda: Canada is also the only nation, other than China, to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s attempted payback is one major reason why or economy isn’t performing as well as it could. Taking this into consideration, our economy is actually doing better than expected.
Carney hater, speak for yourself. 10 years ago, I was unemployed, pennyless, & homeless. Now I own my home, except for a small mortgage, own a reliable if older car, have no other debt, & have 2 years worth of living expenses in the bank. All of this on CPP & OAS, plus a small extra income from renting my spare room. This comes from living within my means & knowing the difference between needs & wants. Choosing the right place to live helps a lot too.
@Sean. How is Putin hurting Canadas economy? We compete basically against Russia as we have the same resources. Sanctions against Russia helps Canada
Libs can only hold themselves to account. They have been governing Canada since October 2015.
Do you Luddite Liberals hear the word: RECESSION at all? Can you guess why we are there? Not just the circus south of us and his damned wars. This has been happening for over ten years now. Brought to you by the Liberals and Justine Trudeau. No one else. Not Pierre Poilievre and past Con govs, not Putin and Ukraine, the LIBERALS PERIOD! You gotta figure that out sooner or later. They have zero favorites, you are being screwed just as much as I am.
Man listen to these Liberalites on here. Sean Webb do you sleep with a pic of Cornhole Carney under your pillow too?
Carney has done a fantastic job of steering Canada through Trump’s chaos, and has pointed the country toward a new and better future in which we are less dependent on the US and more focused on finally leveraging our strengths, particularly our natural resources. There was never going to be a quick fix to Canada’s economic weaknesses, and anyone who says otherwise is either lying, stupid, or both. There are too many whiny ignorant MAGA wannabes in Canada, and Poilievre is all too happy to feed them the Trumpish nonsense they so desperately need.
Canada is the only G7 Nation to be in a recession. Carney was Trudeau ls economic adviser from 2020 – 2025. There green fantasies are now coming how to roost. Even Italy has a better economy than Canada which says something.
We knew hard times were coming and we needed a competent leader to help us get through them. That’s why Polly tanked in the general election and in his own riding. We can’t stop Trump or Putin from being who they are and causing the harms that they cause. We can only look for leadership to get us through this. Our current government is making huge strides to change our trade and military links so that long term we recover and become stronger. We can’t rely on the U.S. as a partner in anything anymore.
Nikki Sudds
Nonsense.
Carney is failing already. After a year he has already got nothing done on his USA trade portfolio. Elbows down and out.
Poilievre is as irrelevant as ever
@John. Carney got elected on his promises and so far hasn’t delivered on them. Sorry to tell you the obvious. Liberals ran an anti-growth economic policy since 2015. Blaming Trump for everything is false
Just kidding, I’m just looking for more opportunities to use catch phrases and to blame inclusion (pronouns) for all of my failings.
Miles, so with the US you blame Carney – knowing full well the Trump factor, history and that the CUSMA negotiations are not until this summer. But you believe the PP has those skills and can lead – no experience, no proof, just a career politician? How do you come to that conclusion? The US was the main trading partner – going back beyond the liberals. So when that gets disrupted to the degree it has, what do you think was going to happen?
Made in Canada recession. We can thank Carney and Trudeau before him.
Elbows Up Carney promised a trade deal with Trump by Aug 1, 2025. It will be June 1, 2026 tomorrow. Master negotiator Carney clearly has no plan and has no skills sets with negotiations.
@Sean
Canada is the only G7 nation to be this position. Also, Canada had poor economic growth when Biden was POTUS. A poor deflection on your part.
I never thought of inflation or economics for that matter. Libs more interested in pronouns and extreme gender identity policy. Sunny ways and Elbows Up
Liberals don’t want to admit their economic policies the last decade have been a total disaster. Canada is the only G7 Nation to be in this position also.
Phuck off PP.
So sick of you.
Unelectable.
Polly should take an economics class. For a conservative he sure wants a lot of government intervention in the economy. We’re not talking about excuses. It’s an explanation. The U.S. is under an incredibly incompetent and vindictive administration and is causing havoc around the world. For Polly to want to ignore the current situation so that he can bash the government of the day shows why he can’t lead a government in Canada.
He seems to be deflecting the attention conservatives are getting on Alberta white nationalist/separation.