Canada Economics Weekly Bank risks doing more harm than good The Bank of Canada this week reiterated that strong immigration is putting upward pressure on inflation because housing supply is failing to keep up. Yet the Bank surely can’t be oblivious to the... 8th December 2023 · 5 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Brighter past, gloomier future The revisions to the national accounts leave the post-pandemic recovery looking stronger than we thought. But that is partly due to intense inventory building, which leaves the economy vulnerable to a... 1st December 2023 · 5 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly FES creates a “clearer path” for Macklem It would be a stretch to say the government showed fiscal restraint in the Fall Economic Statement, but the announcement of only a few billion dollars in extra spending measures means that Finance... 24th November 2023 · 6 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Fall statement unlikely to contain any giveaways For the first time since the pandemic, the government will find itself with less fiscal room than expected when it provides an update of its plans next week. Accordingly, we doubt that the Fall... 17th November 2023 · 6 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank unlikely to follow through with hawkish message The Bank of Canada’s latest Summary of Deliberations was more hawkish than most probably expected, with some members of the Governing Council still seemingly arguing for further rate hikes. That said... 10th November 2023 · 5 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly In recession Employment edged up in October but the broad-based weakness of GDP growth, the depressed business surveys and the rapidly weakening housing market all suggest that the economy is in the early stages... 3rd November 2023 · 5 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank won’t need to talk tough for much longer The Bank of Canada’s insistence that inflationary risks have increased seems at odds with its new forecasts, which show a large degree of economic slack opening up next year. Our view that the Bank is... 27th October 2023 · 6 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Lower house prices will help pull down CPI inflation The renewed weakness in the housing market and likelihood that mortgage interest cost inflation will soon ease are reasons to expect core inflation to trend lower in the coming months. Next week, the... 20th October 2023 · 4 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly From bust to boom and back again for housing The fall in house prices in September shows just how quickly conditions in the housing market have shifted and the plunge in the sales-to-new listing ratio points to more weakness to come. That is... 13th October 2023 · 7 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Higher bond yields mean more pain for housing The further rise in home listings in September and likelihood that mortgage rates will increase amid the global bond market sell-off suggests that house prices will soon fall again. While employment... 6th October 2023 · 4 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly On the cusp of recession despite surging population The recent acceleration in immigration may not be enough to keep the economy afloat, with the latest data and surveys pointing to an increased chance that GDP will contract over the rest of the year. 29th September 2023 · 6 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly “Higher for longer” more likely than another rate hike Given clearer signs of economic weakness in recent weeks, we think the surprise increase in underlying inflation pressures in August means the Bank of Canada is more likely to keep interest rates at... 25th September 2023 · 5 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly No sign of immigration slowdown as opinion shifts A recent poll suggests that Canadians are growing sceptical of the government’s high immigration targets. Whether policy shifts or not, it is inevitable that net immigration will eventually slow from... 15th September 2023 · 5 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Macklem more confident that Bank will meet its target In his speech this week, Governor Tiff Macklem sounded much more confident that the Bank will be able to meet its 2% inflation target. The latest labour market and local housing data suggest that may... 8th September 2023 · 5 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank to pause amid rising recession risks The surprise second-quarter contraction in GDP was partly due to the wildfires but, even without that damage, growth would have been very weak. With the August CFIB Business Barometer showing further... 1st September 2023 · 6 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Wildfires weighing on growth The worst Canadian wildfires on record appear to be behind much of the recent weakness in GDP and, with more areas now under evacuation orders, the data are likely to remain weak in the coming months. 25th August 2023 · 6 mins read