Housing Activity Fell in December, Rounding Out A Disappointing Year Today’s release of December housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed the market ended 2025 with declining sales and prices due to ongoing economic uncertainty. The number of home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems declined 2.7% m/m in December. On an annual […]

Canadian Job Growth Slows Markedly in December as the Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.8% Today’s Canadian Labour Force Survey for December was weaker than expected. Employment was little changed (+8200; 0.0%), and the employment rate held steady at 60.9%. This followed three consecutive monthly increases. The jobless rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.8%, as […]

Good News on the Inflation Front Will Keep the BoC on the Sidelines The Consumer Price Index (CPI) held steady at 2.2% year over year in November, as core inflation continued to ease. Accelerating costs for food and some other goods were offset by slowing price growth for services. In November, prices for services rose […]

Bank of Canada Holds Policy Rate Steady Today, the Bank of Canada held the policy rate steady at 2.25%. This is the bottom of the Bank’s estimate of the neutral overnight rate, where monetary policy is neither expansionary nor contractionary. With inflation hovering just above 2% and core inflation between 2.5% and 3%, the Governing […]

Strong Canadian Job Growth Drove the Unemployment Rate Down to 6.5% Today’s Labour Force Survey for November blew past expectations for the third consecutive month. The Canadian economy added 53,600 jobs in November, marking the third straight month of unexpectedly strong gains amid US tariffs that otherwise slowed activity. Employment rose by an impressive 180,000 since September, […]

Canadian headline inflation slowed to 2.2% y/y in October, down from 2.4% in September. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.2% on a year-over-year basis in October, down from 2.4% in September. The all-items CPI decelerated largely due to gasoline prices, which fell at a faster year-over-year pace in October (-9.4%) than in September (-4.1%). Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.6% in […]

Signs of Improvement in Canadian Housing Activity Today’s release of October housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed the national housing market bounced back, with sales and prices rising. Buyers benefited from the interest rate cuts this year. The number of home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems edged up 0.9% on […]

Forget A December BoC Rate Cut: October Labour Force Survey Much Stronger Than Expected Today’s Labour Force Survey for October showed a stronger-than-expected net employment gain of 66,600, on the heels of September’s upside surprise. Cumulative gains in September and October (+127,000; +0.6%) have offset cumulative declines observed in July and August (-106,000; -0.5%). Even more unexpected […]

Federal Budget Revamp, FY 2025-2026 Today, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne presented his first budget. Mark Carney was elected Prime Minister with a mandate to transform Canada’s economy and reduce its dependence on trade with the United States. The Carney government’s inaugural budget emphasizes structural changes to strengthen the domestic economy and boost non-U.S. exports, and […]

Bank of Canada Lowers Policy Rate to 2.25% Today, the Bank of Canada lowered the overnight policy rate by 25 bps to 2.25% as was widely expected. This is the bottom of the Bank’s estimate of the neutral overnight rate, where monetary policy is neither expansionary nor contractionary. The economy will grow at about a […]