Data released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show a second consecutive dip in home sales across much of the country. Rising mortgage rates and tighter mortgage qualification rules have hit first-time homebuyers particularly hard, and activity was pulled-forward late last year in advance of the new OSFI rules. Existing home sales dropped […]

Canada’s mountain of consumer debt is triggering multiple alarms about the threat to the country’s banks. Moody’s Investors Service joined the Bank for International Settlements and S&P Global Ratings which have all warned in the last month that Canada’s banking system, dominated by five giants, is facing a growing threat of souring consumer loans amid […]

Statistics Canada announced this morning that Canada’s jobless rate returned to a four-decade low as job growth rebounded, confirming that the jobs market is at or near full-employment. Canada added 15,400 net new jobs last month as the unemployment rate edged downward to 5.8%, its lowest level in records back to 1976. This follows January’s […]

The impact of the tightened mortgage rules introduced at the start of the year appears to be rising. A report from RBC Economics says that softening sales in February, following a slowdown in January, suggest a trend that is being felt across the country. Highlighting data from local real estate boards, RBC says that price […]

The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate target on hold as it pointed to a climate of broadening, important unknowns around trade. In explaining its decision to maintain its benchmark rate at 1.25 per cent, the central bank notes that recent trade policy developments are a key source of uncertainty for the Canadian […]

Canada’s economy decelerated more than expected in the second half of last year, amid signs indebted households have begun slowing down spending. The economy grew at an annualized pace of 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter, Statistics Canada reported Friday, versus economist expectations for 2 percent growth. Third-quarter gross domestic product growth was also revised down. […]

Patting himself on the back, the Finance Minister opened his speech by reminding us that “a little over two years ago…Canadians had the opportunity to stay the course. They could stick with a Government that favoured cuts and a set of failed policies that produced stubborn unemployment and the worst decade of economic growth since […]

The slow down in the Canadian housing market seen late in 2017 is likely to get worse before it improves according to RBC Economics. In his latest housing report senior economist Robert Hogue says that the market is likely to soften further as the pool of buyers who were pre-approved for a mortgage under the […]

Still reeling from the oil and gas sector’s plummet, Calgary has shown signs of recovery, however, that’s now in jeopardy. Calgary’s real estate market is flat with an overabundance of condos still listed and buyers having trouble securing mortgages. Croft Axsen, owner of DLC Jencor Mortgage Corporation, says refinances, in particular, have become difficult to obtain. “The […]

Canada shed 88,000 jobs in January, the most significant drop in nine years, driven by a record 137,000 plunge in part-time work. Full-time employment was up 49,000 while the unemployment rate increased a tick to 5.9%–only slightly above the lowest jobless rate since 1976. January’s sharp decline brings to an end a stunning 17-month streak […]