June 15, 2021

Canadian Housing Continues to Moderate in May

The Slowdown In Canadian Housing Continued in May Today the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales fell 7.4% nationally from April to May 2021, building on the 11% decline in April. Over the same period, the number of newly listed properties fell 6.4%, and the MLS Home Price Index rose 1.0%, a marked deceleration from…

Read More

June 9, 2021

Bank Of Canada Holds Overnight Rate Steady

Bank of Canada Holds Rates and QE Steady–Asserting That Both the Upside in Inflation and the Downside in GDP is Temporary The Bank of Canada left the benchmark overnight policy rate unchanged at 0.25% and maintained its current pace of GoC bond purchases at its current pace. The Governing Council renewed its pledge to refrain…

Read More

June 4, 2021

Another Weak Canadian Jobs Report For May

Canada’s Jobs Recovery Derailed By Third-Wave Restriction This morning, Statistics Canada released the May 2021 Labour Force Survey showing another contraction in employment, albeit not as dramatic as in April.  With the geographical broadening in lockdown restrictions in May, employment fell by 68,000 (-0.4%), but almost all of the decline was in part-time work.  The number…

Read More

June 1, 2021

Housing is Driving The Canadian Economy

Housing Drove the Economic Expansion in Q1 This morning’s Stats Canada release showed that the economy grew at a 5.6% annualized rate in the first quarter, after a revised 9.3% pace in the final quarter of last year. That was somewhat below economists’ expectations. Housing investment grew at an annualized 43% pace, by far the…

Read More

May 17, 2021

Housing Market Slowed in April as Renewed Lockdown Took Its Toll

Starting to See A Slowdown In Canadian Housing Today, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales fell 12.4% nationally from March to April 2021. Over the same period, the number of newly listed properties fell 5.4%, and the MLS Home Price Index rose 2.4%. While home sales fell month-over-month in April, largely due to…

Read More

May 7, 2021

Weak April Jobs Report Reflects Canadian Lockdown

Canada’s Jobs Recovery Impaired by Third-Wave Virus Restrictions This morning, Statistics Canada released the April 2021 Labour Force Survey showing a major deterioration in the jobs market following the third-wave Covid containment measures. Employment fell by 207,100 (-1.1%) in April, and the unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 8.1%. Employment declined in both full-time (-129,000; -0.8%) and part-time (-78,000; -2.3%) work. The number…

Read More

April 21, 2021

Bank of Canada Holds Rates Steady, But Pares Bond-Buying Program

Bank of Canada Scales Back Bond Buying Today, the Bank of Canada held its target for the overnight rate at the effective lower bound of ¼ percent. The Bank is also adjusting its bond-buying program from weekly net purchases of Government of Canada (GoC) bonds of $4 billion to $3 billion. This adjustment to the…

Read More

April 19, 2021

Trudeau Opens the Spigots for Social Spending, Income Support, and a Green Economy

Chrystia Freeland’s First Budget is As Promised n more than two years, the first federal budget extends Ottawa’s COVID-19 “lifeline” for workers and struggling businesses another few months as it aims to pull Canada through the pandemic once and for all. Clocking in at a bulky 724 pages, this is a highly detailed budget that sets…

Read More

April 15, 2021

March Existing Home Sales in Canada Hit New Record High As New Listings Surge To Unprecedented Levels

What is All the Policy Hysteria About? Today the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales hit another all-time high in March. What was arguably more noteworthy was that new listings hit their highest level on record in seasonally adjusted terms in March. Prices continued to rise as sales dwarfed the new supply. The number of…

Read More

April 9, 2021

Blockbuster Canadian Jobs Report for March

Blowout Canadian Job Growth Continued In March    This morning, Statistics Canada released the March 2021 Labour Force Survey showing much stronger-than-expected job growth for the second month in a row, pointing towards a Q1 growth rate of more than 5.5%. This survey reflected labour market conditions during the week of March 14 to 20,…

Read More
  • Sign up to Newsletter

    Newsletter

    Sign up to regular newsletters from Dr Sherry Cooper