News & Events

---

News

Canadian banks leap at U.S. rivals’ weakness

 (Date Posted: July 29, 2010)
Canadian banks that covet a bigger slice of the U.S. market have identified a small window of opportunity to potentially steal corporate business from troubled American banks. Now some are pulling out all the stops – using top bank brass to wine and dine the heads of small U.S. companies and flying in analysts from Canada to provide market insight – in an attempt to convince those businesses to change bankers.
Read Article

House prices 4.2% over peak:How cities are fairing

 (Date Posted: July 29, 2010)
Canadian house prices rose 1.3 per cent in May from a month earlier, and now stand 4.2 per cent above their pre-recession peak, according to a Teranet-National Bank composite house price index. It marked the 13th straight month of increases and the second that prices rose in each of the six regions it covers. National Bank economist Marc Pinsonneault contrasted that to the real estate market in the United States, where prices are down almost 30 per cent from their peak. In Canada, year over year, the index is up 13.6 per cent. The index differs from the measure used by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
Read Article

Retirement not an option for many

 (Date Posted: July 28, 2010)


We've heard a lot in recent years about the rising percentage of Canadians who keep working after the formerly sacrosanct retirement age of 65, and much of it has been positive.


Read Article

Variable rate may no longer win

 (Date Posted: July 28, 2010)
Not that there are a lot of people buying houses these days, but the answer to the age-old question of whether to go long or short on your mortgage is unclear yet again.
Read Article

Summer home maintenance

 (Date Posted: July 27, 2010)


Your home is one of your biggest investments. The best way to protect that investment is to conduct regular inspections and keep your home maintenance up-to-date.


Read Article

Pay off your debt, don't just pay it down

 (Date Posted: July 26, 2010)


Do you remember when people bought only what they could afford? My father used to say, “most debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them.” One of the biggest challenges Canadians face is trying to balance paying down debt while saving for the future. Deciding when it makes sense to do either is about considering the effects of compound interest — when it is working for you and when it is working against you.


Read Article

10 worst first-time homebuyer mistakes

 (Date Posted: July 23, 2010)


Are you gearing up to buy your first place? Shopping for a home is exciting, exhausting and a little bit scary. In the end, your aim is to end up with a home you love at a price you can afford. Sounds simple enough, right? Unfortunately, many people make mistakes that prevent them from achieving this simple dream. Arm yourself with these tips to get the most out of your purchase and avoid making 10 of the most costly mistakes that could put a hold on that sold sign.


Read Article

Canadians back away from borrowing

 (Date Posted: July 23, 2010)
Many months ago, it was fashionable to question how Canada’s profligate borrowers would hold up when interest rates began to rise. Today, after the Bank of Canada raised its trendsetting overnight rate for the second time in the past two months, we’re starting to see the answer.
Read Article

Bank of Canada increases overnight rate target

 (Date Posted: July 20, 2010)
The Bank of Canada today announced that it is raising its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 3/4 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/2 per cent.
Read Article

What to expect from Bank of Canada

 (Date Posted: July 20, 2010)
Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney returns to the spotlight this week as he unveils the central bank’s latest interest-rate decision -- another increase is expected -- and economic outlook. He’ll also appear before Ottawa journalists Thursday to offer his view in his own words on the outlook on the economy, and whether it is headed for a dreaded double-dip as some have feared. Here’s a rundown of the key things to watch for this week from the Bank of Canada.
Read Article

Keep the condo, pay down the mortgage

 (Date Posted: July 19, 2010)


At 57, single, and with no company pension and $185,000 in savings, Etta knows she has to do some careful planning.


Read Article

How to pick a home renovator

 (Date Posted: July 19, 2010)


If you’ve been dreaming of adding an extra room to your house or repaving your driveway this fall, now’s the time to book contractors – just make sure you do your homework first.


Read Article

Housing data, bank rate hike

 (Date Posted: July 19, 2010)


There will be a lot of activity this week that could jolt investors out of their deep summer slumber. While it’s normally safe to take to the holiday hills in July without missing much market action, save for a round of quarterly earnings, the next five days are loaded with potentially disruptive events.

Read Article

Week Ahead: Rate hike in the cards

 (Date Posted: July 19, 2010)
Two major announcements bookending the coming week’s economic news will provide a clearer snapshot of the state of the Canadian recovery. The Bank of Canada will be first up when it makes its monthly interest rate announcement on Tuesday. But that will come before Friday’s critical report from Statistics Canada on the country’s consumer price index for June.
Read Article

Canadians score better than Americans on credit

 (Date Posted: July 15, 2010)


The number of Americans with bad credit continues to rise. Is there any reason to believe Canadian credit is better? New statistics from U.S. credit agency FICO show about 25% of American consumers now have a credit score below 600 -- anyone below this is considered a high-risk borrower. Credit score determines whether a consumer gets credit and at what rate.


Read Article

Home sales continue to drop

 (Date Posted: July 15, 2010)


Existing home sales continued their rapid decline last month with 70% of markets showing a drop in sales in June from May, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.


Read Article

Upbeat survey may pave way for interest rate hike

 (Date Posted: July 14, 2010)
Canadian firms are giving the recovery a vote of confidence in a key quarterly survey, paving the way for the Bank of Canada’s expected interest rate hike next week. The central bank’s quarterly survey, released Monday, showed firms were concerned about the fallout from the European sovereign debt mess, but still generally upbeat about the coming year. “Overall, (business executives) are positive about the outlook for business activity over the next 12 months,” the bank wrote
Read Article

Recession-battered Canadians growing conservative

 (Date Posted: July 14, 2010)
Recession-battered Canadians are growing more conservative with their money and turning away from high risk investments to the safety of savings accounts — a trend that banks are cashing in on, industry insiders say. Canadians this year have opened about 20 per cent more chequing and savings accounts than last — a giant leap from the average three to five per cent annual increase, said financial services consultant David McVay.
Read Article

June drop in housing starts

 (Date Posted: July 13, 2010)


Housing starts fell in June to 189,300 units, down 3.1% from May Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported yesterday.


Read Article

High marks for Canada's real estate market

 (Date Posted: July 13, 2010)


Canada may no longer be the most transparent housing market in the world, but it's close, according to a biannual survey of 81 countries.


Read Article

The new face of debt

 (Date Posted: July 9, 2010)


For James Kennedy, a federal civil servant before he retired, and his wife Jane, who retired from the Calgary civil service, the golden years have become a series of tough compromises. Both 59, they live in Qualicum Beach, B.C., a five-minute walk from the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island. They enjoy the mild weather, long walks on the beach and their beautiful home.


Read Article

Canadian economy adds 93,200 jobs in June......

 (Date Posted: July 9, 2010)
Canada enjoyed another big month for employment in June, churning out a whopping 93,200 new jobs — almost all in Ontario and Quebec and all in the services sector. The strong performance brings the jobless rate to 7.9 per cent, the first time it has been under eight percent since the depths of the recession in January 2009.
Read Article

Canada new housing prices rise

 (Date Posted: July 8, 2010)


OTTAWA -- New home prices in Canada rose 0.3 percent in May for the third straight month, as expected, resulting in a 2.9 percent price gain in the year, Statistics Canada said on Thursday.


Read Article

Drop in home sales may be sign of peak

 (Date Posted: July 8, 2010)
Existing home sales dropped sharply in Canada’s two most expensive markets, a further indication that the real estate market may have peaked.
Read Article

Loonie could fall to US87¢, top forecaster predict

 (Date Posted: July 7, 2010)


Shaun Osborne, chief foreign exchange strategist at TD Securities and the world's top currency forecaster, according to Bloomberg News, said yesterday the loonie could slide to US87¢ by the end of the third quarter while the euro was headed for parity with the greenback by the end of 2011.


Read Article

House prices and sales to decline

 (Date Posted: July 7, 2010)


House prices continued to climb higher across Canada in the second quarter of 2010, but sales and prices are expected to fall in the coming months, according to a Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Forecast released Wednesday.


Read Article

Building permits fall in May

 (Date Posted: July 6, 2010)


The number of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities fell by 10.8 per cent in May to $6-billion, after two straight months of gains. Analysts had expected a 2-per-cent drop, but Statistics Canada said sharp declines in both residential and non-residential building pulled the numbers lower.


Read Article

First�]time homebuyers want new, detached homes

 (Date Posted: July 6, 2010)
A majority of Canadians who just bought or are about to buy their first home expect to pay less than the asking price and prefer newer and detached homes over older and semi-detached homes or condos, according to a Bank survey.
Read Article

Rental suite can help you pay off that mortgage...

 (Date Posted: July 5, 2010)
Buying a house with a rental suite can be just the ticket to help you pay off your mortgage years earlier than it might have otherwise been possible.
Read Article

Home ownership: Headaches - and tax breaks

 (Date Posted: July 2, 2010)


Some people have the worst kind of luck. I think about my friend Janice. She bought a home seven years ago and has had nothing but mishaps since. In 2003, she had a flood and ended up with a foot of water in her finished basement. In 2005, lightning struck a huge tree in her yard, part of which fell onto her car in the driveway. Then, last week, a driver lost control of his car in front of her home, drove across her lawn and knocked over her fence.


Read Article

Ten home repairs that will save you money

 (Date Posted: July 2, 2010)


Remodels are great, but can get pretty pricey. Not everyone has thousands to add value to their home - but what about those less glamorous repair projects on your to-do list? These simple and inexpensive maintenance items don't seem like they add to your home's value, but they're big money-savers in the long run.


Read Article

Consumers edgy in Canada, US

 (Date Posted: June 30, 2010)


Even ordinary Canadians have noticed that the economy is not recovering as many hoped it would. The Conference Board says its consumer confidence index fell 5.7 points this month and now sits 13 points below where it stood at the beginning of the year. Coincidentally, the index in the U.S. also fell sharply in June – by about 10 points – over concerns that unemployment remains high despite better economic news in the last six months. It was the first setback since February.


Read Article

Household credit growth slow: CIBC

 (Date Posted: June 30, 2010)


Despite worries about the rise of household debt in Canada, a CIBC World Markets report says the rate of growth has recently slowed down.


Read Article

How the impact of the HST will differ between.....

 (Date Posted: June 29, 2010)
TORONTO — The harmonized sales tax about to take effect in British Columbia and Ontario is proof of Benjamin Franklin’s assertion that “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Read Article

It may burst your bubble

 (Date Posted: June 28, 2010)


My daughter Carolyn just bought her first house. It was a bit of a stressful experience, as home buying can be. With terms like "housing bubble" making headlines almost every day, she was justifiably concerned about her chances of buying her dream home.


Read Article

Insurance tips for home buyers

 (Date Posted: June 28, 2010)


You’ve told your Facebook friends, your banker and your mom: You’ve found the house of your dreams. But have you told your insurance agent? Henry Blumenthal thinks you should, even before you buy. The vice-president and chief underwriter of TD Insurance has seen homes with problems so bad they would have increased the buyer’s insurance premiums or even invalidated their home insurance.


Read Article

What’s Taxable Under the HST and What’s Not?

 (Date Posted: June 28, 2010)
Answering your questions about Ontario’s Harmonized Sales Tax....... Here are examples of common products and services and how they will be affected by the HST.
Read Article

Five things to ask before you sign a mortgage

 (Date Posted: June 25, 2010)


What penalties could I face? Ask your mortgage provider what will happen if you pay off your mortgage early, refinance it or sell your house. You may be facing a three-month interest penalty or an interest-rate differential, which is the difference between the interest charged at the time you signed your mortgage and the interest available at the time of refinancing. These penalties could add up to thousands of dollars.


Read Article

Household net worth recovers from recession

 (Date Posted: June 22, 2010)


Rising stocks and home prices helped restore almost all of the value Canadians lost in household net worth during the economic downturn. Household net worth rose 1.3 per cent, or by $74 billion, to $6 trillion, as the growth in the value of assets, particularly equities and residential real estate, exceeded the increase in liabilities, Statistics Canada reported Monday.


Read Article

Canadian inflation 'going nowhere fast'

 (Date Posted: June 22, 2010)


OTTAWA -- Consumer prices in May were up 1.4% from a year earlier, mainly on higher energy prices, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. “Overall, energy prices rose 6.2% between May 2009 and May 2010, following a 9.8% increase during the 12-month period to April,” the federal agency said. The core inflation rate, which strips out volatile items such as energy and certain foods, advanced at an annual rate of 1.8%.


Read Article

How Canadians are growing richer

 (Date Posted: June 21, 2010)


Canadians are getting richer as stocks and house prices rise. Household net worth rose 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year, or $74-billion, to $6-trillion, Statistics Canada said today, as the value of assets eclipsed the rise in liabilities. “This follows a 1.8 per cent advance in the previous quarter,” the federal statistics gathering agency said. “Gains in the value of financial assets, especially equities, as well as increases in residential real estate contributed to the advance in net worth.”


Read Article

Resales slow dramatically in May after a hot April

 (Date Posted: June 21, 2010)


OTTAWA -- Home sales fell 9.5% in May from the previous month as Canada's housing market began to wind down from record activity. Sales totalled 37,576 on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 41,502 in April, due to a decline in purchases in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa, the Canadian Real Estate Association said this week.


Read Article

Canada’s financial hub, preparing for G20 lockdown

 (Date Posted: June 18, 2010)
All five major banks will be reducing hours or shutting a total of 51 branches that are inside or close to the summit meeting in downtown Toronto. Plans are also underway to reduce staff on trading floors and corporate offices and move some operations to remote locations or allow employees to work from home.
Read Article

Home sales sputter in May

 (Date Posted: June 17, 2010)
Buyers backed away from Canada’s housing market in May, driving sales lower in what is traditionally the busiest month of the year for the country’s real estate agents.
Read Article

Maybe your mortgage needs a check-up

 (Date Posted: June 15, 2010)
While about 80% of Canadians visit a doctor at least once a year to help ensure they remain physically healthy, the number of people who check their financial health by regularly reviewing their mortgage is far less.
Read Article

The new face of debt

 (Date Posted: June 14, 2010)
For James Kennedy, a federal civil servant before he retired, and his wife, Jane, who retired from the Calgary civil service, the golden years have become a series of tough compromises. Both 59, they live in Qualicum Beach, B.C., a five-minute walk from the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island. They enjoy the mild weather, long walks on the beach and their beautiful home.
Read Article

Canada's banking system healthiest in the world

 (Date Posted: June 14, 2010)
Canada's banking system is a model for the United States and European countries struggling to cope with mountains of debt accumulated through a series of market crises, massive bailouts and recession according to a report in the Washington Post this morning.
Read Article

Canada modestly impacted by European debt

 (Date Posted: June 11, 2010)
While the European debt crisis has only had a “modest” impact on Canada, the crisis isn’t over and all governments need to be on healthy fiscal paths, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said Thursday. “So there’s been a modest impact on financial conditions — a slight tightening of financial conditions in Canada — and a modest impact on commodity prices,” Carney said at a news conference.
Read Article

Managing debt while rates grow

 (Date Posted: June 11, 2010)
Canadians have taken advantage of extremely low interest rates to overextend themselves. The Bank of Canada wants to try to prevent inflation by raising interest rates to slow the economy down. How will debtors manage?
Read Article

Wells Fargo closes outlets in Canada

 (Date Posted: June 10, 2010)
Wells Fargo Financial Corp. Canada is closing its outlets across the country and will no longer make customer loans, but will maintain existing real estate, auto and consumer loan accounts.
Read Article

Europe’s debt could undermine economic recovery

 (Date Posted: June 10, 2010)
In its latest global economic prospects report, released Wednesday, the bank says Europe’s debt problems have created new hurdles on the road to sustainable medium-term growth.
Read Article

RBC predicts rapid economic growth

 (Date Posted: June 10, 2010)
Canada's economy is expected to surge in 2010, according to a new report from RBC Economics, which predicts gross domestic product growth of 3.6 per cent as a result of strong demand and increased job creation.
Read Article

Hang in there!

 (Date Posted: June 10, 2010)


Must Have Closets. If your bedroom could write a personal ad, that's what it would say. And that's what most women look for in the fine details of real estate listings. The problem is that finding a proper master with enough storage for his stuff and her clothes, purses, shoes, coats, hats and jewellery is almost as hard as scoring a house with herringbone hardwood flooring.


Read Article

Forget market timing

 (Date Posted: June 9, 2010)


"You know, you're making the biggest mistake of your life. The housing market is going to fall." I got this great piece of advice from another journalist at the Financial Post, who has since left the newspaper, after buying my first home. Not exactly the type of thing you want to hear after taking on huge debt and making the biggest financial decision of your life.


Read Article

Is it too early to be moving away from stimulus to

 (Date Posted: June 8, 2010)
OTTAWA — Governments warned a day would come when they would need to tackle the most tricky and risky period of their economic recovery project. Now it’s here. With the global economy barely emerging from what was called the worst recession in six decades, governments across Europe are already putting into practice spending restraints that go well beyond withdrawing stimulus.
Read Article

Wal-Mart new kid on bank block

 (Date Posted: June 7, 2010)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. changed the face of retail in North America by making life easier for the little guy through its simple formula of cutting prices and cranking up volumes. Is banking next?
Read Article

Pension shortfall hits middle class

 (Date Posted: June 4, 2010)
About 20 to 25 per cent of Canadians are not saving enough to provide an adequate retirement income, says the chief economist of TD Bank Financial Group. One of the ironies of that statistic is that these pension laggards fall into the middle class group of those who earn $30,000 to $80,000 a year, Craig Alexander said Thursday in Kitchener.
Read Article

Renovations that sell

 (Date Posted: June 3, 2010)


Thinking of selling your home and not sure about what to do to sell it for top dollar? Potential home buyers are often searching for properties that are in “move-in ready” condition so that they don’t have to incur any extra costs when they move into their new homes.


Read Article

House prices have peaked for the year

 (Date Posted: June 3, 2010)
TORONTO — Skyrocketing home prices appear to have reached their height and are expected to stabilize for the rest of the year and into 2011 as the real estate market cools significantly, economists say. Gregory Klump, chief economist at the Canadian Real Estate Association, foresees a slight decline in year-over-year prices in the latter half of 2010 before they flatten in 2011. This will happen as new listings come onto the market faster than anticipated and balance out the dynamics between buyers and sellers.
Read Article

Carney's big call

 (Date Posted: May 31, 2010)


Ottawa -- Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has had a busy time of it since taking over as the country's central banker 27 months ago, mostly tackling the financial crisis, mapping out the road to recovery and reassuring Canadians that at the end of the day the bank's extraordinary policies would work.


Read Article

Canada won't fall victim to foreclosure wave

 (Date Posted: May 31, 2010)


Canada’s housing market is expected to cool off this year and next, but isn’t at risk of falling victim to a U.S.-style foreclosure crisis anytime soon, according to a new report by debt-rating firm DBRS Ltd.


Read Article