The Bank of Canada Securities-Lending Program

On 23 April 2002, the Bank of Canada announced its intention to implement a securities-lending program to support the liquidity of Government of Canada securities by providing a secondary and temporary source of securities to the market. The Bank intends to implement this program on 30 September 2002.

The program makes available a portion of the Bank's portfolio of Government of Canada bonds and bills when there is strong demand for these securities in the market. The program will offer securities held by the Bank of Canada when market pricing moves beyond a specified point. The Bank's intention is to lend securities in a manner consistent with being a secondary source of securities.

The program is described in a document titled The Bank of Canada Securities-Lending Program: Terms and Conditions. The standard terms for participating in these auctions are described in a document titled Standard Terms for Auctions to Primary Dealers Under the Bank of Canada Securities-Lending Program. These documents describe in detail the functioning of the program and the responsibilities of participants. For more general information, please refer to a document titled The Bank of Canada Securities-Lending Program: Frequently Asked Questions.

For further information, contact: