Well, it happened. The Bank of Canada pulled the trigger on an interest rate increase, the first since October 2018. The trendsetting “overnight” rate doubled from .25% to .50% and the Bank has made it clear more increases are coming. The upward move and the Bank’s messaging have rekindled the perennial mortgage debate: fixed or […]

The Governing Council of the Bank of Canada raised the overnight policy rate target by a quarter percentage point in a widely expected move and signaled that more hikes would be coming. This is the first rate hike since 2018. In a cautious stance, the Bank announced it was continuing the reinvestment phase, keeping its […]

This week’s interest rate announcement by the Bank of Canada was almost universally expected to bring an increase; probably 0.25% but possibly as much as 0.50%. Then Russia invaded Ukraine. Markets were thrown into a tizzy.  They plunged.  But the frenzy was short lived.  By the end of the day markets were back in the […]

Let’s face it, mere mention of the word “money” can make people shift in discomfort. In an era in which the veils are being lifted off many societal taboos, a shroud of shame hangs stubbornly over money talk – we’re taught to fear it, we’re taught it’s too complicated, and those are all messages meant […]

Statistics Canada released the January Labor Force Survey this morning, reporting a much more extensive than expected decline in jobs last month. The Omicron shutdowns and restrictions took a much larger toll in Canada than expected, as employment fell 200,100 in January and the unemployment rate rose 0.5 percentage points to 6.5%. Ontario and Quebec […]

BRITISH COLUMBIA – The number of home sales in British Columbia is expected to fall and home price growth will moderate because of rising interest rates according to a new report from the British Columbia Real Estate Association(BCREA) examining the potential impacts of the Bank of Canada‘s rate tightening widely expected this year. BCREA’s Market […]

This morning in its first scheduled policy decision of 2022, the Bank of Canada left its target overnight benchmark rate unchanged at what it describes as its “lower bound” of 0.25%. As a result, the Bank Rate stays at 0.5% and the knock-on effect is that borrowing costs for Canadians will remain low for the […]

Market watchers have their gaze firmly fixed on January 26th.  The Bank of Canada will make its first rate announcement of 2022 and deliver its first Monetary Policy Report for the year. The key factors that are top-of-mind ahead of the announcement are inflation and what the central bank will do about it. There has […]

Canadians genuinely celebrate livability within their neighborhood when it comes to choosing a property to buy and live in. These are the qualities that give each homeowner the true satisfaction of his/her home. They are generally determined by a delicate balance of available green spaces, arts and culture, public institutions and local small businesses, as […]

One of the best parts about life is that it is ever-changing. This is one of the reasons that mortgages are available on short-term contracts (such as the standard 5-year) so that you can adjust your mortgage over time to best suit your needs. However, in some cases you cannot wait until the term is […]