Economic Insights.

Dr. Cooper is Dominion Lending Centre's Chief Economist who helps Canadians understand the issues surrounding their most important financial decision – buying a home.

Insufficient Housing Supply Boosted Home Prices Again In August

September 15, 2021

Home Prices Still Rising As Falling Sales Reflect Insufficient Supply Today the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales fell a slight 0.5% nationally from July to August 2021–the fifth consecutive monthly decline. Over the same period, the number of newly listed properties edged up 0.8%, and the MLS Home Price Index rose 0.9% m/m bringing the year-over-year […]

Canadian Inflation Pressures Mount in August, Even As They Eased In The US

September 15, 2021

Annual Inflation In August Rises to 4.1% in Canada–But Are We Close To The Peak? Today’s release of the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Canada posted another uptick in the year-over-year (y/y) inflation rate, but hidden in the details was some support for the Bank of Canada’s position that the spike in inflation is transitory. The Bank has long […]

Good News on the Canadian Jobs Front

September 10, 2021

August Employment Report Showed Continuing Recovery This morning, Statistics Canada provided us with some much-needed good news on the economic front following last week’s surprisingly dismal Q2 GDP report. Canada’s labour market continued its recovery in August, especially in the hardest-hit food services and accommodation sectors. The August Labour Force Survey (LFS) data reflect conditions during the week of August […]

Bank of Canada Stands Pat

September 8, 2021

Bank of Canada Responds To Weak Q2 Economy–Holding Policy Steady As we await the quarterly economic forecast in next month’s Monetary Policy Report, the Bank of Canada acknowledged that the Q2 GDP report, released last week, caught them off-guard. In today’s policy statement, the Governing Council of the Bank said, “In Canada, GDP contracted by about 1 percent in the […]

Canada’s Economy Unexpectedly Contracted in Q2

August 31, 2021

Housing Dampened Economy in Q2 This morning’s Stats Canada release showed that the economy unexpectedly contracted in the second quarter by 1.1%, down from the revised 5.5% gain in the first three months of the year. The Canadian dollar dipped on the news to $.7921 as questions of resiliency in the face of the delta variant mount. Economists in a […]