Poilievre says Carney’s policies to blame for Canada dipping into recession territory

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Mark Carney’s policies are to blame for Canada entering recession territory.

Statistics Canada says the economy contracted slightly for the second quarter in a row to start the year, a benchmark some economists consider a technical recession.

Poilievre says there’s nothing technical about rising rates of mortgage delinquency, increased food bank usage and five quarters of falling business investment.

Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne says he remains confident about the Canadian economy.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson is citing plans to build new nuclear, wind, mining and natural gas projects to drive economic growth.

StatCan mainly blames weakness in Canada’s resource extraction industries and in construction activity for a 0.1 per cent decline in real GDP in March.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2026. 

— With files from Craig Lord. 

By David Baxter | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.