Photo: The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Canada’s economy had its worst quarterly showing since 2009 through the first three months of 2020 owing to COVID-19, Statistics Canada said Friday, warning an even steeper drop may be coming.

Gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 8.2% in the first quarter, including a 7.2% drop in March as restrictions by public health officials began rolling out, including school closures, border shutdowns and travel restrictions.

Preliminary information indicates an 11% drop in GDP for April, but the statistics agency said that figure is likely to be revised as more information becomes available.

Similarly, the agency said first-quarter figures are likely to have larger than usual revisions in subsequent data releases. Some numbers had to be estimated because they were not available.

Early indications are that March and April could end up as the largest consecutive monthly declines on record.

The drastic drop in gross domestic product likely doesn’t fully reflect the experience of every Canadian, said BMO chief economist Douglas Porter, noting GDP is just one barometer of how the pandemic has affected the domestic economy.

“You don’t get the entire picture just from GDP and even from employment (figures) because policy-makers have stepped up with such unusual and aggressive actions that a lot of the common metrics just don’t apply 100 per cent in this episode,” Porter said.

The federal response to date totals about $152 billion in direct spending. The parliamentary budget officer has said that could leave the deficit at $260 billion, with a national debt north of $950 billion.

A preliminary estimate released by the Finance Department on Friday showed deficit of $21.8 billion for the fiscal year that closed in March. The figure will still be subject to revisions, which may land it closer to the government’s last estimate of $26.6 billion.