Here are five things you need to know this morning:

StatCan releases quarterly GDP numbers: Statistics Canada reported first quarter GDP numbers this morning, showing the economy grew at a 1.7 per cent pace. That’s less than the 2.2 per cent forecast. Odds of a rate cut on the soft numbers inched up this morning, increasing the odds of a central bank move next week.

WestJet strikes second deal with Encore pilots: After pilots of its Western Canada-focused regional carrier Encore rejected a first deal, WestJet has managed to hammer out a new deal with the pilots union, just ahead of a strike and/or lockout that was set to happen as soon as this weekend. Pilots have to vote on the new pact, but the preliminary agreement presumably takes that possibility off the table for now, at least.

Wildfire nears Cenovus gas compressor station: An “out of control” wildfire has emerged just north of Grande Prairie, Alberta that’s troublingly close to a number of oil and gas facilities. The almost four-acre blaze near the B.C. border is within four kilometres of Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd.’s gas compression station, which is operated by Cenovus. The facility is also near a number of Canadian Natural Resources gas pipelines.

Laurentian Bank swings to net loss: Laurentian Bank posted quarterly results before markets opened today and the numbers for the Quebec-based lender will likely do little to move the stock from its current level near 52-week lows. The lender actually beat expectations on adjusted profit but posted a net loss of $117.5 million. That’s a reversal from $49.3 million last year. A big reason for the loss was a $196.8 million impairment charge related to restructuring. Revenue fell to just over $252 million from $257 million last year. And as has been the case with most of the other banks that reported this week, provisions for credit losses inched higher, to $17.9 million from $16.2 million previously.

Ski-doo maker BRP slashes production and sales forecast: BRP Inc. says it’s lowered its production forecast for Ski-Doos and Sea-Doos after revenue and demand fell in its recently-completed quarter. The company posted a net loss of $7.4 million for the three months up to the end of April, down from a profit of $154 million last year. Revenue fell to $2.03 billion from $2.43 billion. CEO Jose Boisjoli said he expects dealers’ profits to come under further pressure later this year because of high interest rates and increased competition.