Statistics Canada

Canada’s stellar unemployment rate is a blessing for banks and the housing market – but no one seems to notice

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Canada’s stellar unemployment rate is a blessing for banks and the housing market – but no one seems to notice

A customer enters a restaurant with help wanted signs on Nov. 17, 2021 in Laval, Que.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press A deluge of gloomy economic news is dominating headlines, and the prospect of a recession is on every central banker’s radar, but beneath it all an undeniably positive development is hiding in plain sight – one … Read more

Monthly payments on variable-rate mortgages could increase as borrowers near their ‘trigger rate’

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Monthly payments on variable-rate mortgages could increase as borrowers near their ‘trigger rate’

An obscure feature of variable-rate mortgages may push up the monthly payments for an increasing number of borrowers as the Bank of Canada aggressively hikes interest rates. It’s called the “trigger rate” – the interest rate level that, when surpassed, causes a mortgage holder’s monthly payments to change. The trigger rate has been largely ignored … Read more

Why housing costs are driving up inflation, despite the real-estate downturn

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Why housing costs are driving up inflation, despite the real-estate downturn

A house for sale in Ottawa on June 15.Spencer Colby/The Globe and Mail Canada’s housing market is plunging as higher interest rates scare off potential buyers. Even so, the effects of the slowdown are not showing up in the country’s red-hot inflation numbers. As the real-estate sector cools, the cost of owning or renting a … Read more

Quebec companies plead for workers as province focuses on French-speaking immigrants

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Quebec companies plead for workers as province focuses on French-speaking immigrants

Quebec Premier Francois Legault speaks at a news conference at the legislature in Quebec City on June 10.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press Quebec’s plans to attract more French-speaking newcomers are unnerving some business owners who say they need immigrants from varied backgrounds to address a tight labor market in the province. Unlike other provinces, Quebec gets … Read more

GDP disappoints, but Bank of Canada unlikely to alter rate path

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GDP disappoints, but Bank of Canada unlikely to alter rate path

Canada’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2022, but an acceleration in demand showed why the Bank of Canada is unlikely to deviate from its course of rapid interest rate hikes. After adjusting for inflation, gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 3.1 per cent, slowing from 6.6 per cent in … Read more

Ottawa to halt handgun sales, imports, but stops short of total ban

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Ottawa to halt handgun sales, imports, but stops short of total ban

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with government officials and gun-control advocates, speaks at a news conference about firearms-control legislation that was tabled in the House of Commons in Ottawa on May 30, 2022.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters The federal Liberals have introduced new firearms-control legislation that would freeze the import, sale and transfer of handguns, but would not go … Read more

Nova Scotia reverses course, scraps non-resident property tax

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Nova Scotia reverses course, scraps non-resident property tax

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston in March, 2022. The Premier said the now-cancelled tax hike was an attempt to slow real estate speculation.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has reversed course on a plan to hike taxes on properties owned by non-residents, saying he was concerned about the damage it would cause … Read more

Bank of Canada’s Tiff Macklem won’t rule out even larger interest rate hikes

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Bank of Canada’s Tiff Macklem won’t rule out even larger interest rate hikes

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem speaks during a news conference, on April 13 in Ottawa.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press The Bank of Canada might consider hiking its benchmark interest rate by more than 50 basis points in a single move as it pushes borrowing costs higher to try to quell runaway inflation, Governor Tiff Macklem … Read more

Multi-property owners own significant proportion of housing in Ontario and BC, new report shows

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Multi-property owners own significant proportion of housing in Ontario and BC, new report shows

The pandemic’s real estate boom has been largely because of record low borrowing costs, which have also helped fuel demand from investors.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press There’s new evidence to suggest that a minority of Canadian homeowners are amassing large amounts of residential real estate in Ontario and BC New data reveal that 15.5 per cent … Read more

Consider new ideas coming from greater RRSP savings

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Consider new ideas coming from greater RRSP savings

Over the years I’ve learned some hard life lessons. Most notably, Carolyn has told me that I have two major faults: I don’t listen, and then there was, I don’t know, some other thing she was rambling on about. Another important lesson I’ve learned is that the best time to save money is when you … Read more