Canada’s economy bounced back to modest growth in April on gains in consumer and government spending, manufacturing and conventional oil and gas extraction that were offset by a big drop in heavy oil activity, Statistics Canada said Thursday. The agency said adjusted for inflation gross domestic product rose 0.1 per cent in April after a 0.2 per cent drop in March and a 0.1 per cent decline the previous month. The wildfire impact, however, will be short lived and could give way to more robust GDP growth on a return to near normal production levels in the third quarter, said Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter. “It’s a welcome bounce from a soft end to the first quarter, but it will only be temporary relief as the impact of the Alberta wildfires loom,” CIBC economist Nick Exarhos said in a report. Economists expect real GDP fell by as much as 1 per cent in May due to wildfires in the Fort McMurray region that forced evacuations and the shut down of several oil sands operations.

Source: thestar June 30, 2016 18:18 UTC