Canada was in a technical recession for the first half of this year.

Statistics Canada made it official this morning in releasing the latest gross domestic product number.

It says the economy contracted an an annual pace of 0.5 percent in the second quarter of 2015.

That was a smaller decline than analyst estimates but Statistics Canada says the first quarter shrank more than originally reported, with a revised decline of 0.8 per cent rather than 0.6 per cent.

On the positive side, Canada’s gross domestic product grew by 0.5 per cent in the month of June, after shrinking for five straight months. The growth was led by a 3.1 per cent boost in natural resources extraction.

The fresh data is likely to add fuel to the heated political debate over how best to respond to the weakened economy as parties battle for support ahead of the October 19th federal election.

The Statistics Canada report is also expected to intensify the economic argument over the severity of the technical recession defined as two consecutive quarters of declining GDP.

Pedro Antunes, Executive Director and Deputy Chief Economist with the Conference Board of Canada will offer his analysis on Zoomer Radio’s Goldhawk Fights Back after the 11am news.