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Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada to move to a single set of credit statistics

Currently, the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada both produce aggregate measures of borrowing, or credit, for sectors of the Canadian economy.

Following a recent comprehensive reconciliation study on credit aggregates, the two organizations have agreed to move to a single set of credit statistics, to be produced by Statistics Canada. This will provide users improved coherence, accuracy and interpretability1. As a result, by the end of 2020, the Bank will stop disseminating credit aggregates and securities statistics, both of which are used in the derivation of business credit.

Credit aggregates

The Bank will continue to produce monthly credit aggregates until October 2020, with the release of September 2020 data.

After October 2020, Statistics Canada will produce monthly credit aggregates that will align with the concepts of Statistics Canada’s National Balance Sheet Accounts program. These new credit aggregates will be available on Statistics Canada’s tables: Credit Liabilities of Households, Credit Liabilities of Private Non-Financial Corporations, and Credit Assets of the Financial Corporations Sector. The first release will be on December 18, 2020, covering the period January 1990 to October 2020.

The Bank’s historical credit aggregates will remain available in the Banking and Financial Statistics table, and the following CANSIM tables:

Securities statistics

The Bank will stop disseminating select securities statistics gradually:

  • In 2019, the Bank will stop publishing securities statistics on provincial and municipal governments sectors in September for quarterly series and November for monthly series.
  • In 2020, securities statistics for financial and non-financial corporations will be respectively discontinued in the second and third quarters – this will include Government Business Enterprises.

The Bank will continue its current dissemination for Government of Canada securities data given its role as the Government’s fiscal agent.

Statistics Canada’s debt securities program provides an alternative data source that is accessible through their visualization tool. Equities data will be published in the future.

Securities data are also available in the following two quarterly CANSIM tables:

The Bank’s historical securities data will remain available in the Banking and Financial Statistics tables, and their respective CANSIM tables:

Content Type(s): Press, Announcements
  1. 1. The conclusions of the joint Bank-Statistics Canada reconciliation study have been published in separate reports for household and business credit. In addition, a third and final report on bonds and equities for the non-financial private corporations and non-financial government business enterprises sectors will be released by Statistics Canada in December 2019.[]