It was the steepest decline on record, the agency said.

Statistics Canada announced gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 8.2 per cent in the first three months of 2020.

The figure is an estimate based partly on the almost $146 billion in spending measures the government has announced to help cushion the economic blow from the pandemic.

Canada's economy was already slowing down before the virus outbreak hit home.

Expectations of a Bank of Canada interest rate cut are rising.

The growth rate was markedly slower than the previous quarter but still slightly ahead of economists' expectations.

Canada's GDP was virtually unchanged in July, after four consecutive months of growth.

The oil and gas sector gave Canada's gross domestic product a lift.

The last three months of 2018 and first three months of 2019 were the weakest six-month stretch since 2015. But economists see signs of a pick-up in March.

The oil-and-gas sector was the economy's only weak spot — but even that industry seems to be on the path to recovery.