Blog

Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.

How to protect, improve your credit score amid cost-of-living pressures

Last month, the federal government proposed tying rent payments to credit scores, a new way to help Canadians build their credit. Meanwhile, cost-of-living pressures are impacting some people’s ability to pay down debt and keep their scores in good standing.

Most Canadians don’t feel like the economy is doing better, poll finds

Despite forecasts for stronger-than-expected growth in early 2024, a majority of Canadians just don’t like where the economy is headed, according to the latest results of a long-running survey of households’ financial outlook.

Bank of Canada holds key interest rate at 5%, says things moving in right direction

The Bank of Canada has held its key interest rate at five per cent for the sixth consecutive time since July, saying it will look for signs that slowing inflation is sustained before moving on rate cuts. ‘We are seeing what we need to see, but we need to see it for longer,’ says Macklem.

Housing market: Is the roller-coaster ride finally over?

Year in, year out, the arrival of spring heralds the start of the hot season for the real estate market. Just a few years ago, observers were arguing that Canadian real estate was in a speculative bubble. Today, from coast to coast, the talk is of a housing crisis. Between population growth, housing shortages, the prospect of interest rate cuts, government measures to improve affordability and the announcement of new mortgage rules, it’s becoming difficult to get a fix on what’s in store for the housing market in 2024. Can we expect market stability? The short answer is not yet.

These are the factors the Bank of Canada says it considered in latest interest rate decision

The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at five per cent on Wednesday, saying it needs to see a sustained decline in inflation before rate cuts can begin.

Canada’s job numbers almost unchanged in March, while unemployment rose to 6.1%

The Canadian economy lost 2,200 jobs in March while the unemployment rate rose to 6.1 per cent, as more people looked for work and job growth ground to a halt, Statistics Canada said Friday.

Expectations of a June interest rate cut solidify as cracks widen in labour market

Canada’s unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 per cent in March as more people looked for work and job growth stalled — solidifying expectations of a June interest rate cut. Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday shows the jobless rate is up from 5.8 per cent in February, marking the largest monthly increase in the unemployment rate since summer 2022.

Canadians feeling less pessimistic about their financial positions

A Bank of Canada survey points to renewed business optimism, writes David Olive, with the IMF predicting Canada will outpace all advanced economies by 2025.

Canadian business leaders want better R&D support to strengthen productivity and the innovation economy

The vast majority of Canadian business leaders want the federal government to support a wider range of research and development (R&D) activities and provide tax relief for Canadian intellectual property (IP) to make their companies and, in turn, the economy more productive, finds a KPMG in Canada survey.

Get in touch

Contact us if you have any questions or want to discuss the next steps for your business.