Deloitte Canada has shaved 20 per cent off its growth forecast for Canada’s economy in 2026, citing an increasingly tough environment for consumers and businesses.
The big four accounting firm predicts soaring energy prices linked to war in the Middle East will weigh on consumer spending, adding to a laundry list of economic challenges and uncertainties stretching from foreign trade to a soft labour market.
That said, chief economist Dawn Desjardins says she is cautiously optimistic these trends will abate toward the back half of the year.
“We’re making a couple of pretty big assumptions. One is that the energy market disruption will moderate over the next few months,” she told Yahoo Finance Canada in an interview.
In a report published on Thursday, Deloitte Canada says real GDP (gross domestic product) is set to grow 1.2 per cent this year, after booking a 1.7…
