The Impacts of Minimum Wage Increases on the Canadian Economy Staff analytical note 2017-26 Dany Brouillette, Daniel Gao, Olivier Gervais, Calista Cheung This note reviews the channels through which scheduled minimum wage increases over the coming years may affect Canadian economic activity and inflation and assesses their macroeconomic impacts. From reduced-form estimates of direct minimum wage pass-through, we find that consumer price index (CPI) inflation could be boosted by about 0.1 percentage point (pp) on average in 2018. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, J, J2, J21, J22, J23 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting
Predictive Ability of Commodity Prices for the Canadian Dollar Staff analytical note 2016-2 Kimberly Berg, Pierre Guérin, Yuko Imura Recent sharp declines in commodity prices and the simultaneous depreciation of the Canadian dollar (CAD) relative to the U.S. dollar (USD) have rekindled an interest in the relationship between commodity prices and the CAD-USD exchange rate. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, International markets and currencies, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods
Recent Evolution of Canada’s Credit-to-GDP Gap: Measurement and Interpretation Staff analytical note 2017-25 Timothy Grieder, Dylan Hogg, Thibaut Duprey Over the past several years, the Bank for International Settlements has noted that Canada’s credit-to-GDP gap has widened and is above thresholds indicating future banking stress. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): D, D1, E, E3, E32, G, G0, G01, G1, G2, G21, G3, G30 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit
December 9, 1994 The term structure of interest rates as a leading indicator of economic activity: A technical note Bank of Canada Review - Winter 1994-1995 Kevin Clinton The spread between long-term and short-term interest rates has proven to be an excellent predictor of changes of economic activity in Canada. As a general rule, when long-term interest rates have been much above short-term rates, strong increases in output have followed within about a year; however, whenever the yield curve has been inverted for any extended period of time, a recession has followed. Similar findings exist for other countries, including the United States. But although Canadian and U.S. interest rates generally move quite closely together, the Canadian yield curve has been distinctly better at predicting future Canadian output. The explanation given for this result is that the term spread has reflected both current monetary conditions, which affect short-term interest rates, and expected real returns on investment and expectations of inflation, which are the main determinants of long-term rates. This article is mainly a summary of econometric work done at the Bank. It also touches on some of the extensive recent literature in this area. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles
Modelling the Sovereign Debt Strategy: A Practical Primer Staff discussion paper 2025-16 Nicolas Audet, Adam Epp, Jeffrey Gao, Joe Ning We provide a primer on the role of debt modelling in informing the sovereign debt issuance strategy and discuss how specific challenges faced by debt managers can influence model design decisions. These insights are supported by our experiences using the Canadian Debt Strategy Model to guide policy decisions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): G, G1, G11, G17, H, H6, H63, H68 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Funds management, Models and tools, Economic models
The Role of Long-Term Contracting in Business Lending Staff working paper 2024-2 Phoebe Tian This paper examines inefficiencies arising from a lack of long-term contracting in small business lending in China. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D8, D83, D86, G, G2, G21, L, L1, L14, L2, L26 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Household Food Inflation in Canada Staff working paper 2024-33 Olena Kostyshyna, Maude Ouellet We study food inflation rates for Canadian households during periods of low and high inflation from 2012Q4 to 2023Q4. Households experienced more varied inflation rates during the recent high inflation. Cumulative food inflation has been 2.2 percentage points higher for lower-income households than for highest-income households since the inflation surge. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E31, L, L8, L81 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting
2018 Merchant Acceptance Survey Staff analytical note 2019-31 Kim Huynh, Gradon Nicholls, Mitchell Nicholson In 2015, the Bank of Canada surveyed merchants and found that cash was nearly universally accepted (Fung, Huynh and Kosse 2017). Since 2015, retail payments in Canada have become increasingly digitalized, as many Canadians have adopted digital payment innovations like contactless cards and Interac e-Transfer. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C8, D, D2, D22, E, E4, L, L2 Research Theme(s): Money and payments, Cash and bank notes, Retail payments
What Explains Month-End Funding Pressure in Canada? Staff discussion paper 2017-9 Christopher S. Sutherland The Canadian overnight repo market persistently shows signs of latent funding pressure around month-end periods. Both the overnight repo rate and Bank of Canada liquidity provision tend to rise in these windows. This paper proposes three non-mutually exclusive hypotheses to explain this phenomenon. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E43, E5, E52, E58, F, F3, F36, G, G1, G14, G15, G2, G21 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Monetary policy, Monetary policy tools and implementation, Money and payments, Payment and financial market infrastructures
June 21, 2009 Financial System Review - June 2009 Policy-makers around the world met the intensification of the global financial crisis at the end of 2008 with a forceful response aimed at restoring confidence in the global financial system, promoting the flow of credit, and supporting economic activity.FSR Highlights - June 2009 Erratum: Legends for Chart 13 on page 15 of the June 2009 issue should read: Argentina (right scale), Mexico (left scale). See revised chart. Content Type(s): Publications, Financial Stability Report