Ottawa, ON – After promising to deliver the fastest-growing economy in the G7, Canada’s economy shrank 0.1 per cent over Carney’s first year. That’s the weakest growth in the G7, G20 and the second weakest in the entire OECD, meaning Carney delivered the 37th slowest growing economy out of 38 economies.
It’s not expected to get any better with the Bank of Canada forecasting just 0.7 per cent growth for all of 2026 – four times slower than projected global economic growth. As Carney delivers the worst annual growth since the pandemic, Canada is now experiencing ‘growth rates along a permanently poorer trajectory’ compared to before Carney took office, according to University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.
That’s no surprise, as Statistics Canada found that business capital investment fell 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, the fifth consecutive quarterly decline. Meanwhile, in the second quarter, foreign investors sold off $9.6 billion in Canadian shares – the second consecutive quarter of disinvestment – while buying a record-setting $80.8 billion in government bonds.
While Carney’s record deficits might be good news for foreign bondholders, it does nothing to deliver for the real economy, with the cost of groceries, affordability of housing or workers’ wages. Inflation rose again in July to 3.0 per cent – 50 per cent above the Bank of Canada’s target – as energy costs surged 16.6 per cent and grocery prices jumped another 3.1 per cent.
Higher government spending means higher prices for Canadians. No wonder Canadian households now have the highest debt burden in the G7, experienced the worst deterioration in housing affordability under the Liberals and consumer insolvencies have reached their highest level since the Great Recession.
Conservatives want to see real economic growth that turns rhetoric into reality. That means unleashing our resources, rebuilding our industrial base and attracting investment that will build homes, deliver affordable food and provide stronger take-home pay for workers.