Canada’s transition from a petro-currency to a mortgage-backed dollar no longer feels like a joke. While Statistics Canada (StatCan) data shows strong recent GDP growth, few realize where that expansion comes from. Oil and gas might capture the headlines, but in Q1 2026, nearly a quarter of growth came from owner-occupied GDP. More bluntly, Canada’s GDP isn’t driven by actual economic output—it’s being fuelled by fictional rents in a statistical model.
Canada’s Fake GDP Growth: Fictitious Rents Add More Than Oil
