News & Events

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News

Loonie to fly above parity by summer: CIBC

 (Date Posted: March 11, 2010)

The loonie is likely to rise above parity with the U.S. dollar by the summer as higher interest rates, demand for commodities and the perception of Canada as financially solid push up the currency, CIBC World Markets said in a report.

The Canadian dollar is likely to trade at $1.02 to the greenback by September, before dipping back to 97 cents by year’s end, the report said.


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Canada home prices rise 0.4% in January

 (Date Posted: March 11, 2010)


OTTAWA -- Canadian home prices rose 0.4% between December and January, the same growth rate for the third consecutive month, according to a Statistics Canada report Thursday.




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Canada's property market momentum continues

 (Date Posted: March 9, 2010)

Seasonally adjusted housing starts were 196,700 in the month, up from 185,400 in January, according to figures from the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corp. That was above analysts’ forecasts for a 190,000 gain.




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Ottawa housing starts surge in February

 (Date Posted: March 9, 2010)

Ottawa housing starts more than doubled in February as builders responded to strong market demand.

On Monday, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said that work started on 304 units, up 122 per cent from 137 in February 2009 when builders and buyers were worried about the impact of the recession and financial crisis.

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Market Update - March 2, 2010

 (Date Posted: March 2, 2010)

Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1/4 per cent and reiterates conditional commitment to hold current policy rate until the end of the second quarter of 2010.

OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1/4 per cent. The Bank Rate is unchanged at 1/2 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/4 per cent.

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Economy hotter than estimated, Bank of Canada says

 (Date Posted: March 2, 2010)


Growth spurred by ‘vigorous domestic spending,' recovery in exports

The Bank of Canada kept its benchmark lending rate at a historic low 0.25 per cent Tuesday, while hinting that policy makers are on closer guard for shifts in the inflation outlook that might force them to rethink their pledge to stay on hold through midyear.

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Home building to pick up speed: CMHC

 (Date Posted: March 2, 2010)


Housing starts are expected to rise this year and next; prices will rise ‘modestly' next year

Housing starts will strengthen this year and next, and that increase in supply should keep a lid on further house-price increases, Canada's national housing agency predicted Tuesday.

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Interest rate remains unchanged

 (Date Posted: March 2, 2010)


OTTAWA — Canadians are all but certain to enjoy historically low interest rates for at least another four months after the Bank of Canada passed up on its opportunity to signal a policy change Tuesday.

The central bank acknowledged Tuesday during its scheduled policy rate announcement that the economy is improving — better than even it had projected — but asserted it still needs the help of low interest rates to spur activity.

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Countdown begins to interest rate hikes

 (Date Posted: March 1, 2010)


OTTAWA -- The Bank of Canada took its first steps Tuesday toward returning the country to more normal interest rate levels by signalling a more hawkish tone on inflation and acknowledging the economy is performing better than expected on "vigorous" consumer demand.



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Canada's Fourth-Quarter Economic Growth Is Fastest

 (Date Posted: March 1, 2010)

Canada’s economy expanded at a 5 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter, faster than predicted by the Bank of Canada, raising pressure on policy makers to increase interest rates later this year.

Gross domestic product grew at the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2000, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The median estimate of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 4.2 percent expansion, and the Bank of Canada had projected a 3.3 percent gain.
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Canada’s economy expands 5% in Q4

 (Date Posted: March 1, 2010)



The Canadian economy grew an annualized 5.0% in the fourth quarter of 2009, Statistics Canada reported on Monday.




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The trouble with economic forecasting

 (Date Posted: February 23, 2010)

As Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's March 4 budget nears, it's worth noting that projections often miss the mark, sometimes wildly

In late November, 2008, as global policy makers were crafting expensive bailouts and the U.S. economy looked to be in a death spiral, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty projected a budget surplus for the next fiscal year and the absence of a recession in Canada.


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Flaherty tightens mortgage rules

 (Date Posted: February 16, 2010)

OTTAWA — Amid warnings about Canadian household debt levels and a possible housing bubble, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Tuesday the federal government would make it tougher for people to get a mortgage.

He said at an early Tuesday morning media conference that Ottawa would require all borrowers meet standards for a five-year fixed-rate mortgage, even if the buyer wants a variable rate mortgage. That is the key move announced Tuesday.

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Government of Canada Takes Action to Strengthen Ho

 (Date Posted: February 16, 2010)



The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced a number of measured steps to support the long-term stability of Canada's housing market and continue to encourage home ownership for Canadians.



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Flaherty to toughen mortgage rules

 (Date Posted: February 15, 2010)

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is set to impose new rules aimed at preventing homebuyers from getting in over their heads with mortgage debt.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will announce new rules Tuesday aimed at preventing homebuyers from getting into financial difficulty when mortgage rates rise, CBC News has confirmed.


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New mortgage rules introduced to lessen mortgage c

 (Date Posted: February 15, 2010)


OTTAWA — The federal government is expected to announce new rules Tuesday that would make it more difficult for first-time buyers to enter Canada's hot housing market.

Sources have told The Canadian Press that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is ready to move on the issue because of concern Canadians may be taking on too much debt.

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Housing Rebound in Canada Spurs Talk of a New Bubb

 (Date Posted: February 9, 2010)

Last Wednesday, a housing-price index for Canada's six biggest cities posted its seventh straight monthly gain, showing home prices in November are now back to their prerecession peak. Another broader measure shows the average home price in 2009 hitting a record. Home building has picked up too, with housing starts in December jumping to their highest level since October 2008. Economists expect that growth to continue when January figures are released Monday.

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CREA forecasts record home market this year

 (Date Posted: February 8, 2010)

Canadian real estate sales and prices are poised to set records this year, according to a new forecast that is bound to reignite calls in some quarters for tighter lending rules.

The Canadian Real Estate Association, which represents 100 boards across the country, said Monday it expects existing-home sales to reach 527,300, a 13.3% increase from a year ago and a 1.2% increase from the record high set in 2007.

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Banks urge Ottawa to tighten mortgage rules

 (Date Posted: February 6, 2010)

The heads of the country's six largest banks have privately told policy makers that they fear the wide-ranging economic fallout of a U.S. style binge-and-collapse in housing. To head off any chance of that happening, they are willing to accept tighter rules on mortgages that would slow the real estate market, even though it would mean forgoing some short-term profits from giving out ever bigger mortgages as home prices jump.


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Flaherty Urged To Keep Spending Tabs Open

 (Date Posted: February 2, 2010)

Canada's leading private economists are urging Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to tread a cautious path in his March budget and keep spending flowing in a fragile recovery.

At a meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday, the economists will suggest Mr. Flaherty look past some of the better-than-expected data in Canada and the United States and resist moving too quickly to rein in the deficit.


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Finally, Canada's Financial System Gets Respect

 (Date Posted: February 1, 2010)

While Canada's ability to sidestep the banking crisis has earned a slow drip of respect from the rest of world over the past year and half, it turned into a flood over the weekend.

On Monday, the most e-mailed story on the entire New York Times website was an economist advocating that the United States emulate Canada’s financial regulatory regime.

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