Canadian Jobs Market Tanks in December

Latest News Kim Stenberg 8 Jan

Canadian employment fell 62,600 last month, a bit weaker than expected, following seven months of recovery (see chart below). The rapid rise in COVID cases and the ensuing lockdown measures in many key regions caused the net loss in jobs in the mid-December survey.  Especially hard hit were workers at restaurants and hotels who suffered a […]

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Canadian Home Sales Hit a New Record for the Month of November!

Latest News Kim Stenberg 15 Dec

Today’s release of November housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) shows national home sales continued to run at historically strong levels last month. Competition among buyers remains intense in the detached-home market and townhouses. Still, condo apartment sales-relative-to-new-listings have slowed as new listings surged, especially in the City of Toronto. Thanks to the lack […]

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Canada’s Fiscal Response to COVID is the Largest in the Industrialized World

Latest News Kim Stenberg 1 Dec

Federal Fiscal Update–Finance Minister Freeland’s Debut Justin Trudeau’s government, which has delivered the biggest COVID-19 fiscal response in the industrialized world, announced plans for another dose of stimulus and vowed to continue priming the pump as long as needed. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled $51.7 billion of new spending over two years in a mini-budget Monday, led […]

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Canadian October Home Sales Slow a Touch from Record

Latest News Kim Stenberg 16 Nov

Canadian October Home Sales Slipped for the First Time Since April Today’s release of October housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) shows national home sales fell 0.7% month-over-month (m-o-m) from September’s record high (see chart below). This is the first decline in five months, as market conditions remained tight and prices continued […]

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Canadian Job Growth Slowed in October

Latest News Kim Stenberg 6 Nov

Canada’s Jobs Recovery Slowed in October With New Pandemic Restrictions The October Labour Force Survey, released this morning by Stats Canada, showed an employment increase of 83,600–well below the 378,000 gain in September and average monthly gains of 395,000 over the past six months (see chart below). Several provinces tightened public health restrictions last month […]

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Bank of Canada Holds Overnight Rate at 0.25% and Recalibrates Bond-Buying Program

Latest News Kim Stenberg 4 Nov

 Bank of Canada Recalibrates Quantitative Easing As expected, the Bank held its target overnight rate at the effective lower bound of 25 basis points with the clear notion that negative policy rates are not in the cards. Instead, the central bank will continue to rely on large-scale asset purchases–quantitative easing (QE). The central bank is recalibrating its QE […]

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Canadian Home Sales and Prices Set Another Record High in September

Latest News Kim Stenberg 15 Oct

Today’s release of September housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) shows national home sales rose 0.9% on a month-over-month (m-o-m) (see chart below). This continues the rebound in housing that began five months ago amid record-tight market conditions. “Along with historic supply shortages in a number of regions, fierce competition among buyers […]

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Throne Speech: Canada’s Response to COVID-19

Latest News Kim Stenberg 23 Sep

Throne Speech: Canada’s Response to COVID-19 Prorogation on August 18, following the resignation of Finance Minister Morneau, a new session of Parliament, and a new speech from the throne was meant to allow the government to hit the reset button. And for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to try and move past the summer of controversy […]

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Another Record-Setting Month for Canadian Housing

Latest News Kim Stenberg 15 Sep

Today’s release of August housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed a blockbuster August with both sales and new listings hitting their highest levels in 40 years of data–exceeding the record July activity levels. This continues the rebound in housing that began four months ago. National home sales rose a further 6.2% on […]

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Strong August Jobs Report in Canada

Latest News Kim Stenberg 4 Sep

Canada Has Recouped Two-Thirds Of Pandemic Job Losses The August Labour Force Survey, released this morning by Statistics Canada, reflects labour market conditions as of the week of August 9 to 15, five months after the onset of the COVID-19 economic shutdown. By mid-August, public health restrictions had substantially eased across the country and more businesses and […]

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