Canadian Outlook Economic Forecast: Spring 2002

This quarterly executive summary provides highlights of the Canadian Outlook that presents the short-term national outlook.

Document Highlights 

Amid grave uncertainty and fears of recession, policy stimulus combined with strong underlying fundamentals sparked growth of 2 per cent at annual rates in the fourth quarter of the year, enough to avoid recession and well ahead of general expectations.

• The Canadian economy is expected to expand by 2.6 per cent in 2002 and 4.5 per cent in 2003.
• A massive inventory correction in the fourth quarter of 2001 has provided a solid footing for growth in 2002.
• The U.S. economy has already begun to recover.