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The Bank of Canada’s latest business and consumer surveys support our view that GDP growth will pick-up this quarter and suggest there are some upside risks to our forecast for another 75bp of interest rate cuts this year. That said, given the threat of …
20th January 2025
The federal government is planning to fight US tariffs with tariffs, but reports this week suggest that those would cover a far smaller value of goods than the US is likely to hit. The government has also failed to muster enough support from the …
17th January 2025
The Shape of the Fractured World in 2025 The share of the fracturing global economy that is accounted for by China and its geopolitical allies contracted in 2024, leaving it under a third the size of the US bloc at the start of 2025. This fall was in part …
Higher bond yields a risk to fragile recovery The rise in house prices in December builds on November’s gain, providing some support to our view that house prices will rise by a healthy 4% this year. That said, with the sales-to-new listing ratio dropping …
16th January 2025
Manufacturing recovery stalls The rise in manufacturing sales in November was entirely due to higher prices, with sales volumes unchanged. While the recovery in activity took a breather, the 1.8% m/m rise in new orders and increase in the S&P Global …
15th January 2025
The power vacuum created by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation comes at a bad time, with President-elect Donald Trump ratcheting up his threats against Canada, raising the risk that the next government will be parachuted onto the front lines of a …
10th January 2025
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Jump in employment raises chance of Bank pause The huge gain in employment in December supports our view that labour market conditions are strengthening, despite the recent …
US President-elect Donald Trump’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric against Canada suggests we should take his tariff threats seriously. We already assume that Trump includes Canada in a likely 10% universal import tariff, but we remain relatively sanguine …
9th January 2025
The Cold War was defined by geopolitical blocs – the Soviet or Eastern bloc against the Western bloc. Geopolitics retreated with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The period from the early-1990s to the early-2010s was instead an era of globalisation: most …
7th January 2025
Donald Trump’s second term could redraw the global geopolitical map. A sustainable “Grand Bargain” with China, warmer relations with Russia, or a breakdown in the relationship between the US and its traditional allies could each reshape supply chains and …
There are increasing signs that interest rate cuts are feeding through to the real economy. Household consumption grew strongly in the third quarter and activity in the housing market has picked up. We expect consumer spending to continue to support the …
Export volumes continue to recover The third consecutive rise in export volumes in November provides further evidence that the economy was gaining momentum at the end of last year. US tariffs could cause the recovery to go into reverse this year, but that …
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation as Prime Minister and Liberal Party Leader sets off a contest for who will lead the party into the election due by October, but which could happen much sooner if the opposition parties manage to topple the …
6th January 2025
Green shoots emerging The stronger-than-expected increase in GDP in October and upward revisions to the prior two months leaves fourth-quarter growth on track to accelerate to 2% annualised, raising the chance of the Bank of Canada pausing at its next …
23rd December 2024
Frosty atmosphere at the top Forty years on from his father famously resigning as Prime Minister following a solo walk through an Ottawa snowstorm, reports suggest Justin Trudeau is mulling the same decision after a tumultuous week within government. The …
20th December 2024
Consumption losing momentum again Retail sales volumes were unchanged in October, bringing a run of strong consecutive monthly gains to an end. Moreover, the preliminary estimate that sales values were unchanged in November too suggests this may be the …
Overview – The near-term economic outlook has brightened, with lower interest rates feeding through and consumption benefitting from the recent strong pace of real income growth. That should help to drive quarterly GDP growth above 2% annualised in the …
18th December 2024
Underlying inflation pressures building despite downside headline surprise The surprise fall in headline inflation back below the 2.0% target in November reflected steep price falls in a handful of components related to consumer goods, driven by Black …
17th December 2024
The Fall Economic Statement (FES) showed a much larger budget deficit for the previous fiscal year than previously estimated, but that was largely due to one-off charges related to indigenous settlements. Compared to Budget 2024, the new net spending …
16th December 2024
Housing market heating up The rise in home sales in November builds on the jump in October and is particularly positive considering some buyers may have held off from purchases ahead of the new mortgage rules that took effect this month. Prices are set to …
Bank of Canada signals caution The Bank continued its easing cycle this week with another 50bp cut, taking the policy rate down to 3.25%. While that was widely expected, the hawkish tone of the policy statement prompted investors to pare back expectations …
13th December 2024
GDP growth picking up again The upside surprises to both manufacturing and wholesale sales in October supports our view that the near-term economic outlook is now better than the Bank of Canada seems to think. It looks likely that the preliminary estimate …
Although the Bank of Canada cut interest rates by another 50bp today, its communications were more hawkish than might have been expected, with the Bank no longer indicating that further cuts are guaranteed and instead saying it “will be evaluating the …
11th December 2024
50bp cut will not be repeated Although the Bank of Canada cut interest rates by another 50bp today, the accompanying communications were more hawkish than might have been expected, with the Bank no longer indicating that further cuts are guaranteed and …
While mortgage interest cost (MIC) inflation has historically turned negative during, or after, loosening cycles, we expect it to remain positive this time and rebound from 2026. This is because, in contrast to previous monetary policy cycles, the …
10th December 2024
Pick-up in the survey indicators Recent Bank of Canada communications have been keenly attuned to the downside risks to inflation and economic activity, concerns which seemed justified after last week’s disappointing GDP report, which showed third-quarter …
6th December 2024
Strong employment gain more important for the Bank than jump in unemployment rate We disagree with the market reaction to November's Labour Force Survey, implying that the jump in the unemployment rate makes a 50bp cut much more likely. A slowdown in …
Lower interest rates are yet to do much to spur the economy, but green shoots are emerging, with the timely activity surveys picking up and the newly-announced mini-fiscal stimulus expected to boost consumption over the coming months. That said, strong …
5th December 2024
GDP growth has disappointed, but outlook is brighter Core inflation has surprised to the upside of Bank’s forecasts Still a case for another 50bp move, but Governing Council likely to favour 25 bp Although the recent GDP data disappointed, there are green …
4th December 2024
US President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge this week to levy a 25% tariff on all products imported from Canada is clearly more of a bargaining tool than a genuine threat. However, it is now apparent that the USMCA will not spare Canada from Trump’s wrath. …
29th November 2024
50bp rate cut hopes not dead yet The 1.0% annualised gain in third-quarter GDP was not as bad as it looks, with most of the weakness due to a big drag from the volatile inventories component and the Bank of Canada likely to be encouraged by the sharp …
We held an online session on US import tariffs on 26th November. (See a recording here ). In this Update we answer the questions we were most asked. What are Trump’s motives for threatening tariffs and will he follow through? Trump has spoken about using …
President-elect Donald Trump’s first threatened tariffs since the election are designed to extract concessions on drug trafficking and illegal border crossings, which means it may be possible for the countries targeted – Canada, Mexico and China – to head …
26th November 2024
We discussed the global impact of higher tariffs in a Drop-In on Tuesday, 26th November. Click here to watch the 20-minute online briefing. In this Focus, we construct a framework to explore the channels through which an import tariff works, which we use …
25th November 2024
The recent stronger price and activity data, along with the announcement this week of a sales-tax break over the festive period and stimulus cheques to come next year, means we now think the Bank of Canada will cut interest rates by 25bp at its December …
22nd November 2024
Consumption outlook improving fast The strong increase in retail sales volumes in September confirms that they grew by around 5% annualised last quarter, suggesting that household consumption growth picked up strongly. The October preliminary estimate …
The slump in the participation rate this year at least partly reflects the cyclical weakness of hiring, which means that the labour market is weaker than the unemployment rate alone might suggest. The silver lining is that an eventual rebound in …
20th November 2024
New immigration targets threaten nascent recovery Lower mortgage rates appear to be finally sparking a recovery in the housing market, with home sales soaring to a two-and-a-half-year high last month and the sales-to-new listing ratio now pointing to …
19th November 2024
Upside surprise not only due to property tax update With headline inflation still at target and given the Bank’s recent emphasis on the need to ensure that GDP growth and the labour market pick up again, the upside surprise to core inflation in October …
The US election outcome means that Canada and the US will not be trading friendship bracelets anytime soon and leaves the risks to inflation more finely balanced, but we still think that growth concerns will prompt the Bank of C anada to cut the policy …
15th November 2024
Manufacturing sales weak, but tentative signs of a recovery Despite the 0.4% m/m decline in manufacturing sales volumes in September, the data still appear consistent with the flash estimate that GDP rose by 0.3% that month. Although manufacturing has …
Clearer window into policymakers’ minds While the Summary of Deliberations from the Bank of Canada’s October meeting didn’t give much away about the size and pace of further interest rate cuts, we did learn more about policymakers’ aims. The Bank has …
8th November 2024
Muted job gain even worse that it seems The muted rise in employment in October was even weaker than it seems, as, like in September, it was propped up by strong gains in youth employment. While the unchanged unemployment rate will reassure the Bank that …
Earlier interest rate cuts are yet to have much effect on the Canadian economy, which remains trapped in a period of below-potential growth. Making matters worse, any boost to the economy from lower borrowing costs next year will be countered by a decline …
5th November 2024
Goods trade balance improves, but for the wrong reasons The improvement in the goods trade position in September was for all the wrong reasons, with a fall in imports outpacing a decline in exports. While this suggests that net trade provided a small …
While there were some positives to take from this week’s GDP data release, it still points to an economy stuck in a period of below potential growth. This reinforces our view that the Bank of Canada will cut by 50bp again in December. Third-quarter GDP …
1st November 2024
The government’s plan to trim the population will hit potential GDP growth and, given the headwinds for residential investment, reduce the chance of GDP reaching that lower potential level. Rents on new leases are set to fall, which presents downside …
31st October 2024
Heading for a weak third-quarter The unchanged level of GDP in August and downgrade to July puts third-quarter growth on track to sharply undershoot the Bank of Canada’s estimate of 1.5%. That provides some support to our view that the Bank will cut …
With the Conservatives currently on track to win a clear majority at the next federal election, which is due by October 2025 but could come much earlier, there is a high chance that the carbon tax will soon be scrapped. We do not think this would alter …
28th October 2024
Bank steps up the pace of loosening The Bank’s shift to a larger interest rate cut this week, which took the policy rate down to 3.75% (see here ), created some confusion among commentators. Some wondered why the Bank felt the need to act more …
25th October 2024
