Canada is seeing weak home sales, slowing population growth, and economic uncertainty. It’s the perfect recipe for… higher rental prices? A new report shows that rental prices made a sharp jump in March, amplifying already accelerated growth in small cities and traditionally cheaper purpose-built rentals. It’s a little weird to see Toronto and Halifax rental […]
Just a few years ago, Canada was scrambling to fill a record volume of vacant jobs. Now it’s struggling to cope with the volume of excess workers. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows companies added more workers to their payrolls in January. However, job vacancies fell to the lowest level since 2017, making it the […]
Canadian households are anxious about the economy, despite the parade of above-normal expectations. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index plunged to a new record low in March. Economists at BMO wrote to investors explaining its no surprise with the trade war compounding cost of living pains. They also don’t see any improvements on the horizon. […]
Canadian mortgage borrowers waiting on the central bank may be disappointed by its latest move. The Bank of Canada (BoC) cut its overnight rate by 0.25 points to 2.75% on Tuesday. Many professionals applauded the decision, believing it would improve mortgage affordability. Unfortunately, that may not be the case, as the decision boosted inflation expectations […]
Canadian household debt has been showing big improvements. A combination of rate hikes that slowed borrowing, and recent rate cuts are delivering repayment relief. Before popping that bottle of HELOC-finance champagne, this may be the calm before the storm, warns BMO. Several economic headwinds, primarily the trade war, are set to hit households. The central […]
Canada’s economy finally got some good news on the productivity front. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows labor productivity jumped in Q4 2024. It was big enough to print annual growth for the first time in years. Before getting too excited, the growth was still abysmal and experts see tariff threats potentially derailing progress in […]
Canada’s economy is doing much better than expected, led by consumer spending and real estate investment. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows real gross domestic product (GDP) growth surged in Q4 2024. The data came in significantly higher than the Bank of Canada (BoC) forecast. The agency also continued its trend of significant upward revisions […]
Canada’s sharp policy turns have dramatically impacted the quality of life. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data reveals that most people are highly satisfied with life and that share was rising in Q4 2024… but only for seniors 65 and older. The general sentiment in the country continued to erode, especially amongst the critical demographics of […]
Canada’s population is growing at one of the fastest paces ever, but you may have noticed it doesn’t quite feel that fast. Outside of discussions on how everyone wants to move to Canada, there’s quite a few signs the estimates are overstated. This is due to the data limitation Statistics Canada (Stat Can) can access […]
Canadian real estate has seen some positive growth but won’t recover to peak valuations for another half decade. That was the take from BMO Capital Markets, who sees demand getting a boost from a few factors including cheaper, easier credit. However, they don’t see home prices returning to their peak until 2029, as a combination […]
