The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday, Jan. 7, edition that Dalhousie University economist Lars Osberg says Canada is in a recession and has been for quite some time. The Post s Andrew Rankin writes that it is not a true recession, according to the standard definition that requires two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product growth. The Canadian economy in the second quarter grew above forecasts at 2.1 per cent, before dropping to 1 per cent in the third quarter. Dr. Osberg, however, says a recession is where we would be, if not for the country s historic population growth. Canada in 2023 recorded its fastest population boom in 66 years, increasing by 1.3 million people, or 3.2 per cent, the vast majority of which came from immigration. Dr. Osberg says the real measuring stick of a country's economy is real GDP per capita, an economy's production per person. Canada's real GDP per capita in the third quarter declined for the sixth consecutive quarter, falling by 0.4 per cent. Dr. Osberg says, "In terms of GDP per capita, we've been in a recession for some time now and the increase in the unemployment rate reflects that." Dr. Osberg says he is not alone sounding the alarm bells.