Canada’s Jobs Recovery Slowed in October With New Pandemic Restrictions The October Labour Force Survey, released this morning by Stats Canada, showed an employment increase of 83,600–well below the 378,000 gain in September and average monthly gains of 395,000 over the past six months (see chart below). Several provinces tightened public health restrictions last month […]

Bank of Canada Maintains Prime rate … as expected.  Some in depth info below from our Chief Economist Dr Sherri Cooper.  If you don’t have time to read all of the below, jump straight to the “Bottom Line” (very end of article).  Cheers!   Bank of Canada Recalibrates Quantitative Easing As expected, the Bank held […]

Bank of Canada Will Stop Buying Canada Mortgage Bonds This Wednesday, the Bank of Canada will release its interest rate announcement and the October Monetary Policy Report. Most people expect the overnight rate to remain at 0.25%, where it has been since the pandemic hit. A few have suggested that the Bank could take a page from […]

Great update form one of our preferred lenders! First National Financial LP The latest employment numbers coupled with the September reports from the Toronto and Vancouver real estate boards have triggered a lot of optimism about Canada’s economic recovery and the state of the housing market. Statistics Canada reports the economy added 378,000 jobs in […]

Hot off the press!  No change in prime rate and the next Bank of Canada Meeting is October 28!   Bank of Canada Relies on Quantitative Easing As promised, the Bank held its target overnight rate at the effective lower bound of 25 basis points with the clear notion that negative policy rates are not in […]

Although the heading is not too positive, looks like housing was silver lining ………….     Canadian Economy Took a Record Nosedive in Q2 Canadian real GDP plunged 11.5% in the second quarter, or -38.7% at an annualized rate, the worst quarterly decline on record (see chart below). This followed an 8.2% plunge in Q1. […]

Let’s keep the momentum going!   Canadian Economy Recovers Almost Half Its COVID-Induced Loss in May and June The Canadian economy bounced back sharply in May and June as Canadian provinces eased lockdown measures. GDP expanded 4.5% in May, and activity in June was even more robust at an estimated 5% rise. Cumulatively, GDP rose […]

Certainly some positives and some momentum building.  See below for a summary of today’s Bank of Canada economic forecast.     The Bank of Canada under the new governor, Tiff Macklem, wants to be “unusually clear” that interest rates will remain low for a very long time. To do that, they are using “forward guidance”–indicating that […]

  Some more positive news!     Robust Jobs Report in June, Much Better Than Expected The June Labour Force Survey, released this morning by Statistics Canada, reflects labour market conditions as of the week of June 14 to June 20. By that time, public health restrictions had been eased in most parts of the country. […]

A great summary and breakdown of Canada’s Finance Minister’s announcement today!     Astonishing Fiscal Red Ink Announced Today Finance Minister Bill Morneau presented his fiscal snapshot this afternoon. Most economists were expecting a budget deficit of roughly $260 billion. Instead, the government announced a deficit for the fiscal year 2020-21 of $343.2 billion–close to 16% of GDP. That […]