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We study access to Canadian retail banking and cash services in rural, localized markets using the Bresnahan-Reiss entry threshold framework. We find that the first retail banking services branch entry requires about 500 residents in an average market, whereas the first cash services location requires about 80 residents.

Sovereign borrowing is rising, just as central banks are stepping back. Meanwhile, commercial bank holdings of sovereign bonds remain well below pre-global financial crisis levels. This leaves foreign investors and investment funds, often hedge funds, to absorb more of this growing supply. Their greater involvement supports liquidity and robust auction results, but it can also concentrate risk.

This paper reviews recent efforts to monitor and assess systemic risk in the Canadian financial system and outlines a framework for future system-wide stress testing.

The Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) is one of the Bank of Canada’s least discussed tools—and one of its most important. Embedded directly in Canada’s high value payment system, Lynx, the SLF operates quietly in the background every business day, ensuring the smooth settlement of payments and reinforcing the implementation of monetary policy.

How do central bank crisis interventions calm market fears? Using options data, we measure the perceived risk of large asset price drops across horizons from two weeks to ten years. Studying the Fed's response to the 2020 turmoil, we find asset purchases reduce short-term fears while interest rate actions shape long-term expectations.

This paper documents Canada’s recent review of its sovereign debt distribution framework (DDF). Informed by a context of record-high debt issuance since the previous DDF review, along with comparisons with sovereign peers and insights from market participants, the review identified an important need to broaden Canada’s dealer base internationally to support a larger and more diverse set of investors.

This paper analyzes cross-border cryptocurrency flows, focusing on Bitcoin and four major stablecoins. Using data for 162 countries, we identify the key determinants, including responses to weak economic conditions and demand for remittances. A COVID-19 case study supports these findings and emphasizes the role of cryptocurrencies in global finance.

Pressures on the CORRA benchmark can emerge from the interaction of client borrowing behavior, dealer balance sheet constraints, even if the level of settlement balances is in a range deemed sufficient to meet the requirement of the payment system and the prudential demand of its members.

Mortgage debt represents over 70% of all Canadian household financial liabilities, and the performance of these debts is critical to the health of the financial system. We explore the relationships between mortgage arrears and key macroeconomic fundamentals such as labour market variables, interest rates, house prices and inflation. We then develop a framework to assess future household mortgage stress.

This analytical paper examines the organization of Government of Canada bond dealing. We focus on dealers’ hedging and funding practices, the market infrastructures that support those practices, and trading costs across the yield curve. This paper builds on earlier work discussing Canada’s fixed-income market: "Government of Canada Fixed-Income Market Ecology."