Bank of Canada Holds Rates Steady In The Face Of Tariff Uncertainty–More Rate Cuts Coming The Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.75% at today’s meeting, as expected by half of the market, to mark the first hold following 225 basis points of cuts in seven consecutive decisions. The governing council noted […]

Global Tariff Uncertainty Sidelines Buyers Canadian existing home sales plunged last month as tariff concerns again mothballed home-buying intentions. Consumer confidence has fallen to rock-bottom levels as many fear the prospect of job losses and higher prices. According to data released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association, existing home sales declined by 4.8% month-over-month. […]

Weaker Than Expected Inflation May Not Be Enough to Trigger Another Bank of Canada Rate Cut Tomorrow Canadian consumer prices rose 0.3% in March (or remained flat when seasonally adjusted), which was lower than expected, reducing the annual inflation rate by 0.3 percentage points to 2.3%. This decrease in headline inflation followed the complete removal […]

Weak Canadian Job Creation Is The First Fallout From The Trade War Today’s Labour Force Survey for March was weaker than expected. Employment decreased by 33,000 (-0.2%) in March, the first decrease since January 2022. The decline in March followed little change in February and three consecutive months of growth in November, December and January, totalling 211,000 (+1.0%). The employment rate—the […]

Canada Finished 2024 on a Stronger Note, But Tariffs Remain a Concern This morning, Statistics Canada released the GDP data for the final quarter of last year, showing a stronger-than-expected increase in household final consumption spending, exports, and business investment. However, drawdowns of business inventories and higher imports tempered the overall growth. In Q4, the […]