The Uncertain Times Confronted by the Bank of Canada

From: Jeremy M. Kronick and Steve Ambler  To: Interest rate watchers  Date: June 16, 2026  Re: The Uncertain Times Confronted by the Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada held its policy rate constant at 2.25 percent last week, meeting market expectations. This was despite headline inflation increasing to 2.8 percent in April, up from 2.4 percent in March, near the upper end […]

Explaining the Path to 2 Percent: A New Approach to Bank of Canada Communications

June 16, 2026 – The Bank of Canada’s use of multiple measures of underlying inflation is important for properly executing monetary policy, but risks undermining public understanding of monetary policy and complicating efforts to communicate its policy stance clearly, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report.   In “The Bank of Canada’s Communication Conundrum: How to Explain Inflation,” authors Jeremy Kronick, Steve Ambler and Thorsten Koeppl recommend that the […]

The Bank of Canada’s Communication Conundrum: How to Explain Inflation

by Jeremy Kronick, Steve Ambler and Thorsten Koeppl This E-Brief is the third in a series related to the Bank of Canada’s 2026 renewal of its inflation-targeting agreement with the federal government. We examine the desirable properties of underlying inflation measures and assess whether the measures available to the Bank meet those criteria. We find […]

The Bank of Canada was right to hold rates, but where to from here?

Published in The Globe and Mail. The Bank of Canada held its policy rate constant at 2.25 per cent on Wednesday, meeting market expectations. This was in spite of headline inflation increasing to 2.8 per cent in April, up from 2.4 per cent in March, near the upper end of the central bank’s 1 to 3 per […]

Toolkit of Economic Indicators

  The C.D. Howe Institute’s toolkit for tracking the economy is a customized series of data sets from past Institute publications. These tools can be helpful for policymakers and other parties interested in analyzing monetary policy and financial stability decisions. These unique variables, which can all be found in past Institute work, include: The Leading […]

Don’t Be Too Quick to Call a Recession

From: Steve Ambler and Jeremy M. Kronick To:  Recession watchers  Date: June 8, 2026   Re: Don’t Be Too Quick to Call a Recession On May 29, Statistics Canada released preliminary estimates of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2026. Real GDP declined slightly (0.04 percent), following a 0.25 percent drop in the last quarter of 2025. […]

Bank of Canada Should Maintain Overnight Rate at 2.25 Percent for Next Six Months, Increase to 2.5 Percent by Next June, Says C.D. Howe Institute Monetary Policy Council

June 4, 2026 – The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) calls for the Bank of Canada to keep its target for the overnight rate, its benchmark policy interest rate, at 2.25 percent at its next announcement on June 10, maintain it at that level until December of this year, and raise it to 2.5 percent by June 2027. The MPC is chaired by Jeremy Kronick, the Institute’s President and […]

Weak Supply Side and Falling Demand: A Bank of Canada Conundrum 

From: Jeremy M. Kronick and Steve Ambler To:  Interest rate watchers Date: May 6, 2026  Re: Weak Supply Side and Falling Demand: A Bank of Canada Conundrum  Markets had been confident the Bank of Canada would hold its policy rate constant last week, which it did despite the upward blip in inflation to 2.4 percent in March, up from 1.8 percent in February.  As was […]

Bank of Canada Should Maintain Overnight Rate at 2.25 Percent for Next Six Months, Increase to 2.5 Percent by Next April, Says C.D. Howe Institute Monetary Policy Council

April 23, 2026 – The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) calls for the Bank of Canada to keep its target for the overnight rate, its benchmark policy interest rate, at 2.25 percent at its next announcement on April 29, maintain it at that level until October of this year, and raise it to 2.5 percent by April 2027. The MPC is chaired by Jeremy Kronick, the Institute’s President and […]

Iran, CUSMA: Just Two Reasons Bank was Right to Hold Steady on its Rate

From: Jeremy M. Kronick and Steve AmblerTo:  Interest rate watchersDate: March 23, 2026 Re: Iran, CUSMA: Just Two Reasons Bank was Right to Hold Steady on its Rate The loss of 84,000 jobs in February – driven by the evaporation of more than 100,000 full-time positions – led to speculation early last week that the Bank of Canada might cut its policy rate.  […]

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