The COVID-19 recession is officially over. At least, according to the C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council which decided on August 9 to declare an end to the recession that began in March 2020. The Council believes the recovery is now prolonged and sustained enough to make the declaration.

The Council declared on May 1, 2020, that Canada entered a recession in the first quarter of 2020, with February 2020 marking the peak of the previous business cycle expansion. Since May 2020, Canada has experienced broad economic growth, both in terms of real GDP and employment.

The Institute says this was the shortest and deepest recession since the Great Depression that began in 1929.