What to know
- A video shows a journalist asking Carney about claims that Canada is in a recession.
- Carney appears to leave without answering, prompting criticism from some residents.
- New data from Statistics Canada shows Canada’s GDP declined for a second consecutive quarter, meeting the common definition of a “technical recession.”
- Officials from the Bank of Canada cautioned that recession labels should not rely solely on GDP figures, noting that employment and other economic indicators also need to be considered.
- Toronto residents interviewed by Now Toronto said the video reflected poorly on Carney and expressed frustration with the rising cost of living.
- Carney acknowledged economic “weakness” and uneven data but did not describe Canada’s situation as a recession.
Whether Canada is in a recession may be up for debate. For many Toronto residents, the cost of living has already made it feel that way for years.
Their comments come after a video circulated online showing Prime Minister Mark Carney apparently leaving a room as a reporter attempted to ask him whether Canada had entered a recession, a moment that quickly sparked criticism and debate online.
In a video shared online, Queen’s Park journalist Laura Stone asks Carney to comment about claims of Canada being in a recession. He then leaves the room before providing an answer.
What is a technical recession?
The video comes after StatCan data released last week revealed that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has declined for the second quarter in a row, which fits the technical definition of a recession.
According to the report, the GDP has dropped 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, after it already dropped one per cent in the last quarter of 2025.
A spokesperson for the Bank of Canada told Now Toronto it doesn’t have its own definition of recession, but said “some economists define it as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.”
By this definition, Canada would now technically be in a recession.
However, speaking at a Public Accounts Committee Meeting on Monday, Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said other factors need to be considered before labeling an actual recession.
“When there is a lot going on in the economy as there is right now. There’s things pulling different parts of the economy in different directions, you’re going to get some noise in the data,” she said.
“Simply the fact that you have to put the term ‘technical’ in front of it sort of tells you that you need to really look past that one indicator, you need to look at employment, you maybe need to look at some of the more leading indicators…We need to be careful not to put too much weight in any one indicator.”
‘We’ve been living it already’: Torontonians react to Carney appearing to dodge the recession question
Now Toronto took to the streets to ask residents their opinions about Carney’s apparent dismissal to the reporter’s questions.
One resident, Randolph P., said he was “really upset” to see the video, saying the prime minister’s reaction seemed dismissive.
“That was absolutely horrifically dismissive, not only to the individual woman reporter, but to those of us looking at the camera. Does he not know that we’re going to see this, and we’re going to judge him accordingly?” he said.
Speaking about Canada’s technical recession, Randolph said he believes the country’s economic reality has been long affecting residents like him, pointing out that he has personally been facing hardships managing day-to-day expenses.
“We’ve been in a recession for a lot longer than just these last two quarters. For those of us who live in the real world, we’ve been in a recession for many years — two, three, four years. The individual human on the ground [earning] $50,000 or less a year, is absolutely struggling,” he said. “It’s a difficult world we’re living in.”
Another resident, Andrea O., agreed that it looked like Carney was avoiding the reporter’s question. She believes he might have done that because “he didn’t have a good answer.”
“Unless he had somewhere to go, but definitely didn’t look too good,” she said.
Personally, she says she has also felt financial stress in the last two quarters, and says she believes the government should change its economic approach.
“Definitely just like grocery shopping… shopping for my dog, everything’s definitely gotten more expensive,” she said. “I think a change would be good, or just a little bit more transparency about a plan.”
Meanwhile, resident David O., said it was unclear from the video whether Carney in fact intended to ignore the reporter or not, but said the moment “doesn’t look the best.”
Like Andrea and Randolph, David also said the cost of living has been difficult to manage in the past couple of years.
“It’s a little expensive. Especially in Toronto, things [are] pretty bad. But even when you go outside of Toronto…maybe you tell yourself it’s a little cheaper, but I don’t think it really is,” he said. “It’s felt like that for a couple of years now, though.”
Carney acknowledges economic ‘weakness’
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Carney acknowledged that there has been “some weakness” in the economy due in part to government decisions, including the reduction of immigration levels and control of government spending. However, the prime minister did not use the word “recession.”
“This government has been in the process of laying the foundations for a stronger, more resilient, more independent Canadian economy. That process is settling in. During that time, as we make major investments, major changes, as we do all that, the data is going to be uneven,” he told reporters.
“But we’re also seeing at the same time the foundations coming into place, settling in for that stronger, more resilient economy.”
