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5 Things to Know Today: Canada Enters Recession, Oil Slips on Iran Ceasefire Talk

Saturday, May 30, 2026 — Your quick-hit Canadian financial briefing for the day. 1.Canada Officially Meets the Definition of a Technical Recession Statistics Canada confirmed Friday that real GDP contracted 0.1% on an annualized basis in Q1 2026 — following a revised 1.0% drop in Q4 2025 . That's two straight quarters of negative growth, which meets the technical definition of a recession. The miss was a big one: economists had forecast growth of 1.5% . The main culprits were a surge in imports (up 2.9%, largely gold), declining business capital investment (down 0.7% — its fifth consecutive quarterly drop ), and weakness in resource extraction and construction. On a per-capita basis, GDP actually edged up 0.2% as Canada's population shrank for the second quarter in a row. Not everyone is ready to call it a full recession: some economists note that three of the four weak months were isolated, and early April data points to a sharp 0.4% rebound . Still, the numbers ...

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UK and Canada’s Free-Trade Deal Talks Break Down Over Agricultural Products

 

The UK and Canada have failed to reach a free-trade deal after almost two years of negotiations. The UK was pushing to extend a temporary arrangement allowing exports of British cheese to Canada under low tariffs, similar to those enjoyed by EU members. Canada, for its part, had hoped to secure UK access for its beef and pork, which do not currently meet British regulatory standards. 

The UK government spokesperson said that Britain will only negotiate trade deals that “deliver” for its people. The breakdown in talks effectively leaves the UK at risk of being in a worse position than it was as a member of the bloc when it comes to Canada trade. The UK is Canada’s third-largest, single-country trading partner at over C$46 billion ($34 billion) a year, according to the Canadian government. The UK ranks Canada as its 18th-largest trading partner.

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