Nov. 5 budget: PBO sees borrowing at more than twice deficits
Ottawa's own anchors let the deficit look tame while cash borrowing climbs. The budget is a chance to show the whole debt picture.
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Innis
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U.S. Treasury piles grew fivefold in Canadian accounts, ownership is still unclear
U.S. data credit Canada with US$426.3 billion in Treasuries. Analysts suspect some of it might be China's.
Food bank visits reach 2.35 million. More clients hold jobs
HungerCount 2026 shows demand more than doubling since 2019. Ottawa's response seems insufficient. Results are needed, as more families turn to food banks for regular meals.
Oil tops US$110, and Alberta's budget posts a surplus
Brent crude reached its highest price since May as tankers came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz. Alberta's posts a $2 billion surplus.
September's inflation climbs, driven by rising oil prices
Headline inflation rose to 3.1 per cent, driven by global oil prices. Meanwhile, core inflation components dropped to July levels. What's the Bank of Canada to do?
Is Canada steering toward a debt crisis?
In 2026, Canada will spend more on servicing its debt than it does on healthcare. Yields are rising, and every federal target since 2024 has slipped. We may not be in crisis now, but the future is less optimistic.
Canada's businesses have stopped hiring: young people pay the price
Employment fell 68,000 in September and youth took most of the hit. Layoffs are normal; hiring is what has stalled, and pay is losing to prices.
Canada's August trade surplus with the U.S. might signal a downturn in September
Canada’s goods surplus with the United States jumped by a record amount in August as exporters rushed shipments ahead of 50 per cent tariffs. That is borrowed demand, and the Bank should look through it on Oct. 28.
The Bank of Canada should hike rates, but not to please the bond market
Inflation is 3 per cent and the policy rate 2.25 per cent, so real rates are below zero. A quarter-point rise on Oct. 28 is right unless September’s inflation data show oil’s spillover fading.
Quantitative easing is the wrong tool for the Bank of Canada
Rumours that the Bank will buy bonds to fight the pandemic miss a decade of QE abroad: contested growth effects, more fragile markets, and a policy that is hard to stop.
Do we need a carbon tax?
Canada’s federal pricing scheme mixes a fuel charge with an output-based system for big emitters. In theory it is elegant. In practice it fully prices what households cannot easily change and underfunds the substitutes that would replace it.