To no one’s surprise, the Bank of Canada left its target overnight rate unchanged at 1/2 percent. The Bank, however, reduced its forecast for the global economy and for the U.S. economy as well, suggesting that the outlook for Canadian exports is less favorable than earlier forecast. (Table 1 below shows the Bank’s current global […]

The Bank of Canada will maintain its target for the overnight rate at 1/2%. “Inflation in Canada is evolving broadly as expected. Total CPI inflation remains near the bottom of the Bank’s target range as the disinflationary effects of economic slack and low consumer energy prices are only partially offset by the inflationary impact of […]

New down payment rules will go into effective February 15, 2016. “The Government’s role in housing is to set and maintain a framework that is equitable, stable and sustainable. The actions taken today prudently address emerging vulnerabilities in certain housing markets, while not overburdening other regions,” Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in a release. “They […]

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is lowering its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 1/2 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 3/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/4 per cent. Total CPI inflation in Canada has been around 1 per cent in recent […]

Economists had expected a weak employment report for June on the heels of the larger-than-expected gain in May. Canadian employment fell by 6,400 last month as the biggest decline in part-time work in more than four years dwarfed gains in full-time positions. The unemployment rate remained at 6.8 percent for the fifth month in a […]

Why Are Bond Yields Rising? Will Mortgage Rates Follow? Bond markets have tanked in the past several weeks, driving yields upward. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been wiped out in global bond markets. Ten-year government bond yields in Canada have risen 50 basis points (bps) in the past month as Treasury yields have jumped […]

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 3/4 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/2 per cent. Total CPI inflation is at 1 per cent, reflecting the drop in consumer energy prices. Core inflation has remained […]

Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1 per cent                                        The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 1/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 3/4 per cent. Inflation is close to the […]

  Benjamin Tal Feb 2014 economic update (summarized bullet points):   The Eurozone currently has a 25% unemployment rate overall, with a 50% unemployment rate among young people.  They have a very different culture, however, where not everyone has to be 100% independent and people just share and move in with one another if things […]

The government has announced, effective February 19, 2014, under the Property Transfer Tax (PTT) First-Time Home Buyers’ Exemption program, qualifying first-time buyers can buy a home worth up to $475,000. The previous threshold was $425,000. The partial exemption continues and will apply to homes valued between $475,000 and $500,000. With this change, the government estimates […]