Canada could lose as many as 325,000 jobs this year, sending the national unemployment rate soaring to almost nine per cent, according to Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Canada already lost 84,000 jobs in the last two months of 2008 as a recession took hold.

The bank says the economy is now entering a more perilous period.

Because most of the economic shocks came from problems outside the country, Canada was sheltered for most of last year, it says.

Derek Burleton, TD's director of economic analysis, says the country is now being hit by a negative feedback loop that will spread to most sectors and regions.

"What happens is manufacturers and other export producers cut back production, then you get employment cuts, and we're just beginning to see that now, and that will weigh on consumer spending,” he said.

TD predicts the national jobless rate will rise to 8.8 per cent by the end of the year from the current level of 6.6 per cent .

Burleton believes Canada's economy won't recover until next year, largely as a result of President Barack Obama's $819-billion US stimulus package.