Fresh data from Statistics Canada on Friday suggests the economy was growing at a healthy clip in the second quarter and rumblings of a recession earlier in the year might’ve been overblown.

Real gross domestic product rose 3.3 per cent in the second quarter, a tick lower than economists’ expectations. That was still the fastest quarterly pace of growth since early 2023.

Exports jumped 3.6 per cent in the second quarter, led by a rebound in shipments of passenger cars and light trucks. Auto production had declined in the previous two quarters, StatCan said.

Residential investment was also giving the economy a lift as StatCan said the resale housing market was heating up over the spring, particularly in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

StatCan said business capital investment, meanwhile, was up 2.3 per cent in the second quarter, snapping a streak of five consecutive quarters of decline.

The Canadian Press has more. 

Trans Mountain Corp. says the pipeline that sends Alberta crude to the Vancouver area ran 94 per cent full during the second quarter.

The pipeline has been operating since the 1950s, and an expansion tripling its capacity to 890,000 barrels per day came into service in 2024.

During the three months ended June 30, the Trans Mountain pipeline carried an average of 840,000 barrels of oil per day, up from 703,000 during the same period a year earlier.

Net income for the quarter was $138 million, down from $150 million, while revenues rose to $808 million from $719 million.

Trans Mountain, a Crown corporation, says it paid $450 million to the federal government during the second quarter in the form of interest and dividends.

CP’s got this one too. 

Also, iPolitics is back with an adjournment proceeding. Here’s an excerpt.

Welcome to Massey, population 1,000. It’s one of the many places in Ontario’s north the grid operator has picked for new utility-scale solar, part of a push to meet electricity demand that’s expected to surge in the coming decades.

On the back roads northeast of the village, where Hydro One transmission lines cut across fields of bush and farmland, developer Potentia Renewables found landowners willing to lease about 800 acres for a massive solar project.

The proposal ticked all of the grid operator’s boxes. It offered enough non-emitting power for more than 27,000 homes at a competitive price, on land the township hasn’t designated prime agricultural and that is currently used to grow hay.

Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Wahnapitae First Nation would hold a majority stake. And the township’s current council passed a resolution of support last year.

Aya Dufour has more. 

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Every day $1bn worth of goods crosses the river dividing Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, two largely blue-collar US and Canadian cities that have come to act as one in the creation of North America’s auto industry.

News this week of Donald Trump’s escalating trade spat with Canada has everyone worried. Political and economic leaders and observers labeled the move an act of “hubris” , blamed Trump’s “ego”, and called the escalation “insanity”.

“We don’t need Canada, they need us,” Trump declared.

But many are hoping that Trump’s imposition of 50% tariffs on Canadian goods this week will not last long, with the upcoming midterm elections as a pivotal reason the plan may be scrapped.

Control of the US Congress hangs in the balance and will almost certainly be decided by several close Michigan races. It also comes just two months after polling highlighted Michiganders’ fatigue with and opposition to the president’s unprecedented tariff program.

The Guardian has more. 

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh remains tight-lipped about where he thinks interest rates are heading — but investors took his tough talk about inflation at a closely-watched speech on Friday as a signal that rates are likely to go higher.

Speaking from Jackson Hole, Wyo., Warsh argued that the labor market is stable, investment is strong and consumer spending is resilient. But he also noted that prices are still climbing faster than the central bank — and most people — would like.

The consumer price index shows prices have risen 3.4% over the twelve months ending in July, while the Fed’s preferred measure puts inflation at 3.7% during that period.

“None of these measures are perfect,” Warsh said. “But they all tell a similar story: Inflation is running above our 2% target. So the Fed’s predominant focus right now should be on prices.”

Read more from NPR. 

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

And finally, as the world continues to mourn over Dolly Parton, her legacy is cropping up in an unexpected place.

A corn maze east of Edmonton has transformed its field into an intricate portrait of the late country music icon, joining 19 other mazes across North America celebrating the 31st anniversary of Parton’s Imagination Library.

The literacy program, inspired by Parton’s father, who could not read or write, has delivered more than 300 million free books to children since it launched in 1995.

Each participating farm is also donating a portion of proceeds to the library.

More from CTV.