The Bank of Canada Halts Quantitative Easing and Signals Rate Increases in 2022

Like the rest of the world, Quebec saw its economy nearly grind to a halt in spring 2020 when public health measures were enacted to combat the first wave of COVID‑19. The impacts were especially acute in Quebec, where the Great Lockdown shut down all non-essential businesses for months, including some residential construction sites. Last year, Quebec’s real GDP plummeted 21.9% from its February peak to its April low, a bigger decline than in the rest of Canada (16.7%) and in Canada as a whole (17.7%).