This reflected strong consumer spending backed by rising employment and income, together with increased business investment and a jump in energy exports. We are now starting to see signs of moderation in the second half, which we forecast in July.
Growth in consumption and investment is expected to ease, and growth in housing is projected to slow further, in part because of the measures introduced by the Ontario government in April. All told, we forecast that the economy will expand by 3.1 per cent this year, before slowing to 2.1 per cent in 2018. This is still faster than the growth rate of potential.