David Rosenberg’s interview on BNN Bloomberg this week stripped away all the government rhetoric about how strong the Canadian economy is performing and exposed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s management of the finances and economic strategies for what they are. Rosenberg’s professional assessment is validated by a continual stream of published data by Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada and financial analysts, all laying bare the illusions the Carney Liberals parade before the public.
Rosenberg, the founder of Rosenberg Research after an illustrious career as economist and market strategist on Wall Street and Bay Street, was brutally frank when assessing the country’s current economic condition, “Canada’s economy is on life support.” He stated that the economy is “growing below potential.” He zeroed in on the gross domestic product (GDP) statistics for the country, “It is only barely a one percent annualized growth performance” and “the real per capital GDP in Canada is still declining, that has not been arrested.”
“I am trying to look around for what the source of vitality is going to be,” said Rosenberg of the economy. “I am looking at a broad range of indicators and it is quite striking, you would think that of all the sectors that would benefit from what the Bank of Canada has done and you would think it would be the housing sector. But if you look over the past year, residential construction expenditures are flat as a beaver tail.”
He also offered this observation, “Take a look at manufacturing activity in Canada, even with what would be deemed a competitive exchange rate and red hot U.S. economic growth, and you would think they would be pulling in Canadian shipments, and manufacturing is actually down five per cent year-over-year. You’re talking about a recession, well you have a recession already in the manufacturing sector.”
When pressed to comment specifically on Ontario “emerging as the sick man of Canada in economic terms,” Rosenberg replied, “Ontario is the poster child for the deterioration in trade relations with United States. There is no other province that has that sensitivity to manufacturing, which I said is in recession. And there is no other province that has such close economic ties to the United States…”
Alongside this stark commentary, Statistics Canada released data showed Canada’s manufacturing sector is faltering and the overall economy has stalled, perhaps contracted in the fourth quarter of 2025. Canada’s real GDP was unchanged in November, after declining in October; the GDP for the fall months is now forecasted to be in negative territory, and the rate may be as dismal as 1.3 per cent in 2025. This is the weakest performance of any of the G-7 nations – and this has been the case for the last three years (and, for comparison, the U.S. GDP rate annually tracks above four per cent).
The sagging, underperforming economy is expected to continue into 2026. In a note to bank customers, BMO chief economist Doug Porter suggests the economy will struggle to post growth of little more than one per cent in 2026. The Bank of Canada’s Monetary Policy Report forecasts just a 1.1 per cent growth rate for the economy this up-coming year and then for it to limp along at a 1.5 per cent rate in 2027. These bank figures reveal a sobering reality that through the next few years the country’s economy is not rebounding and that, as a result, Canadians can expect their quality of life and living standards to erode in comparison to other advanced western economies.
Canada is slipping further behind, sinking with economic stagnation, productivity inertia, and structural decline. Canadians do not need GDP numbers or labour and debt data to realize this as it is readily visible with the growing food bank lines, homelessness, rising street crime, shuttered businesses, and personal bankruptcies.
The Canadian economic data speaks volumes.
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) statistics for 2014-2024 revealed Canada’s per capital economic growth was an embarrassing one-half per cent; U.K.’s growth rate was 7.7 per cent, and U.S.’s growth rate was 20.7 per cent. Ben Eisen and Jake Fuss of the Fraser Institute stated in a Globe and Mail business review that “If Canada’s economy is an engine, no cylinders are firing.”
- In a review of Canada’s Lost Decade (2015-2024), The Hub published a damning series of 12 charts telling the story of capital flight from Canada – a trillion-dollar exodus over a decade. Canada has become a massive net exporter of capital, with more than $2.3 trillion of direct investment abroad in 2024.
- Canadians are feeling the effects of the poorly performing economy and they are now one of the most indebted people in the world. The recently published IMF data has Canadians as the fourth most indebted people, a startling 377 per cent of the GDP – now ahead of the U.S. and well above the 270 per cent average of the world’s advanced economies.
- Statistics Canada just published that year over year inflation for food in 2025 was 6.2 per cent, which is the highest rate in the G-7 countries. A Bank of Canada report stated that in the last three years Canadians have seen grocery prices rise by about 22 per cent, which outpaces other consumer price increases that average 13 per cent.
- That Bank of Canada report found, “Lower-income households in particular are feeling this burden because they allocate much more of their budget to groceries than higher-income households do.” According to Statistics Canada, in 2024 households in the lowest income quintile spent more than one in four dollars (27 per cent) of their disposable income on food and non-alcoholic beverages.
- A new report by Desjardins on youth unemployment stated that it is of crisis proportion in Canada, now at a level normally seen “during a recession.” Government data as of fall 2025 show there were 420,000 unemployed workers in Canada under age 25, almost 200,000 in the 25-29 age cohort. HR research shows that young workers unable to start their careers during a downturn, can potentially reduce their lifetime earnings trajectories by as much as 10 per cent over their careers, representing a lifetime loss (in real 2026-dollar terms) of almost one-quarter million dollars.
- A greater number of aging Canadians now feel they can no longer afford to retire. More than half of non-retired Canadians (53 per cent) feel negative about retirement and doubt they can afford to stop working, according to IG Wealth Management’s latest annual retirement study. Less than half (48 per cent) of non-retirees have any workplace pension plan at all, and a recent Pollara Strategic Insights report shows only one third (33 per cent) of non-retired Canadians have both a retirement plan and savings.
Through the week, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre sought answers to how Carney plans to provide relief for financially struggling Canadians. On X, Poilievre stated, “Liberals gave Canada the worst decade of growth in the G7. Mark Carney promised change. But it’s all an illusion. Canada’s economy is shrinking while other G7 economies continue to grow…” Then in the House of Commons, he highlighted the decade-plus of Liberal government policies that have resulted in Canada’s sagging economy. He questioned the prime minister as to why he would not take action to remove the industrial carbon tax that will reduce grocery prices, and to immediately approve a pipeline to the west coast, which will kick-start the revitalization of Canada’s resource development.
As Carney stared down Poilievre and the opposition arguments in Question Period, he made the remarkable claim that the Canadian dollar’s drop and country’s stalled economic growth was “caused by the obstructionism” of the Conservatives. And he blustered, “What this government is giving Canadians is certainty” and the Liberal MPs cheered and applauded the bravado. Very much sounding like some faint echo of former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s favourite default retort, “It’s Harper’s fault,” it was a stunning moment when Carney blamed the Conservatives for the country’s failing economy.
Carney would entertain no arguments from Poilievre and he would accept no responsibility for his part in the country’s state of economic demise – even though he himself has been advising the governing Liberals on economic and environmental policy since 2020. No, he would simply flip the question on its head and state it is the Conservatives’ fault.
No doubt Carney felt rather proud of his cleverness as he led the parade of his rowdy Liberal MPs out of the House of Commons chamber at the completion of Question Period. And that would have likely been the end of the story… had Canadians not been reading on a daily basis those revealing headlines from Statistics Canada and the Bank of Canada – and had they not heard that interview of David Rosenberg when he undressed the Emperor with a cry, “Canada’s economy is on life support.”
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
