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Even so, the collapse in oil prices had already started taking its toll on Canadian output in the first quarter, where the governor had hoped it would be contained, or “front-loaded,” as he said at the time.

Now into a second quarter of contraction, Poloz was still careful not to use the “R” word on Wednesday.

But he expressed strong concerns over the growing impact of low crude prices on business investment in the energy sector — as well as signs of reduced spending by non-resources-based companies and weaker demand for Canadian products in China’s slowing economy.

Speaking after the of the bank’s quarterly Monetary Policy Report, released along with the rate decision, Poloz said “global economic developments have been quite disappointing, and these have led to a significant downgrade of our estimate of Canadian economic growth for 2015.”

In its report, the central bank said the economy likely contracted by 0.6 per cent from January to March and by 0.5 per cent between April and June, meeting the technical definition of a recession: two consecutive negative quarters.

“The facts have changed — quite quickly actually — in the last two to three months,” Poloz told reporters in Ottawa.

“One of the big shocks in this outlook is the downgrade of investment intentions by the companies in the oil patch.”

Nevertheless, policymakers are forecasting 1.5-per-cent growth in the third quarter and 2.5-per-cent expansion in the last quarter of 2015.