APRIL 17 2024 Federal Budget Targets Rich Canadians For New Spending The budget focuses on helping Millennial and Gen Z voters experiencing rising housing costs and other inflationary pressures. The government has set fiscal anchors, such as keeping the deficit below 1% of GDP starting in 2027. The Canadian federal government released its 2023 budget […]

APRIL 16 2024 Great News On The Inflation Front The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.9% year-over-year in March, as expected, up a tick from the February pace owing to a rise in gasoline prices, as prices at the pump rose faster in March compared with February. Excluding gasoline, the all-items CPI slowed to a […]

APRIL 12 2024 Recent Signs Show Housing Activity Will Strengthen Meaningfully In April The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) announced today that national home sales for March were roughly flat, while new listings fell and prices stagnated. CREA analysts are confident that recent activity will harken stronger housing markets for the rest of this year. There […]

APRIL 10 2024 The Bank of Canada Cautious, But A Rate Cut In June Is Possible Today, the Bank of Canada held the overnight rate at 5% for the sixth consecutive meeting and pledged to continue normalizing its balance sheet. Governor Macklem confirmed that inflation is moving in the right direction, labour markets are easing, […]

APRIL 5 2024 March’s Weak Jobs Report Sets The Stage For A June Rate Cut Today’s StatsCanada Labour Force Survey for March is much weaker than expected. Employment fell by 2,200, and the employment rate declined for the sixth consecutive month to 61.4%. Total hours worked in March were virtually unchanged but up 0.7% compared with 12 months […]

APRIL 3 2024 Potential Rate Cuts and Housing Market Dynamics The Bank of Canada’s Governing Council was split on the timing of rate cuts this year when they deliberated before the March press release. But the February inflation data signaled that rate cuts should be coming soon. After all, inflation has slowed markedly along with […]

MARCH 19 2024 Great News On The Inflation Front The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.8% year-over-year in February, down from the 2.9% January pace and much slower than the 3.1% expected rate. Gasoline prices rose in Canada for the first time in five months, which led many analysts to forecast a rise in February […]

MARCH 18 2024 February Data Bode Well for a Strong Spring Housing Market The Canadian Real Estate Association announced today that national home sales dipped 3.1% m/m in February while home prices were flat, ending a five-month price decline that began last fall. It was noteworthy that prices remained unchanged from January to February, given […]

MARCH 8 2024 February Job Gains Double Forecast As Unemployment Rate Ticks Up Today’s StatsCanada Labour Force Survey for February was a mixed bag and shows the dramatic effect of surging immigration. Canadian employment rose by a much stronger-than-expected 41,000, dominated by a 71,000 rise in full-time jobs. The employment rate–the proportion of the population aged […]

MARCH 6 2024 The Bank of Canada Holds Rates Steady Until Core Inflation Falls Further Today, the Bank of Canada held the overnight rate at 5% for the fifth consecutive meeting and pledged to continue normalizing the Bank’s balance sheet. Policymakers remain concerned about risks to the outlook for inflation. The latest data show that […]