Oil Crash Sent Canada Into First-Half Recession, TD Says

Canada probably fell into a recession this year because of damage from the drop in crude oil prices, according to Randall Bartlett, senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, who now predicts the central bank will cut interest rates next week.

There are signs output fell at a 1 percent annualized pace between January and March, more than Statistics Canada’s estimate of a 0.6 percent decline, and gross domestic product probably fell at a 0.6 percent second-quarter pace, he said.