A prominent economist believes Canada has already entered a recession, as stalling economic growth is met with high immigration numbers.

In a Monday interview, David Rosenberg, founder and president of Rosenberg Research, made the case that growth domestic product figures would be in negative territory without unusually high population growth due to immigration.

“Unbeknownst to most people, perhaps the biggest bulls on the stock market and maybe the Bank of Canada, is that the recession in Canada is probably already starting, and I think is going to accelerate through most of this year,” Rosenberg told BNN Bloomberg.

Other economists have similarly noted that Canada’s GDP growth has been elevated as a result of record-breaking population increases. 

“The way that you actually measure a country's economic well-being is through real GDP, or real gross domestic income, per capita,” Rosenberg said Monday. “In Canada, it is decaying at an alarming rate.”

Rosenberg criticized the Bank of Canada for reacting more to inflation and economic data, rather than forecasting future data points, which he predicted would prompt drastic actions in 2024.

“I think both central banks – the (Bank of Canada) and the (U.S. Federal Reserve) – are going to be scrambling to cut rates aggressively,” he said. “They're like a deer in the headlights because they missed the inflation.”

IMMIGRATION

Rosenberg said newcomers need to add to Canada’s economic needs if the country is going to get out the recession.

“Are you going to tell me that they're going to be employed in value-added manufacturing that's going to improve productivity? Bring it on,” he said.

“This is an unprecedented divide between what the economy is doing and what's happening on the population side.”

Statistics Canada is slated to release December inflation figures on Tuesday, while retail sales numbers for the month are scheduled for release on Friday.

Both data sets could offer economists clues to what the Bank of Canada might do at its next interest rate decision, scheduled for Jan. 24.