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.

Weak April Jobs Report Reflects Canadian Lockdown

May 7, 2021

Canada’s Jobs Recovery Impaired by Third-Wave Virus Restrictions This morning, Statistics Canada released the April 2021 Labour Force Survey showing a major deterioration in the jobs market following the third-wave Covid containment measures. Employment fell by 207,100 (-1.1%) in April, and the unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 8.1%. Employment declined in both full-time (-129,000; -0.8%) and part-time (-78,000; -2.3%) work. The number of employed people working less […]

Bank of Canada Holds Rates Steady, But Pares Bond-Buying Program

April 21, 2021

Bank of Canada Scales Back Bond Buying Today, the Bank of Canada held its target for the overnight rate at the effective lower bound of ¼ percent. The Bank is also adjusting its bond-buying program from weekly net purchases of Government of Canada (GoC) bonds of $4 billion to $3 billion. This adjustment to the amount of incremental stimulus being […]

Trudeau Opens the Spigots for Social Spending, Income Support, and a Green Economy

April 19, 2021

Chrystia Freeland’s First Budget is As Promised n more than two years, the first federal budget extends Ottawa’s COVID-19 “lifeline” for workers and struggling businesses another few months as it aims to pull Canada through the pandemic once and for all. Clocking in at a bulky 724 pages, this is a highly detailed budget that sets the stage for post-pandemic policy […]

March Existing Home Sales in Canada Hit New Record High As New Listings Surge To Unprecedented Levels

April 15, 2021

What is All the Policy Hysteria About? Today the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales hit another all-time high in March. What was arguably more noteworthy was that new listings hit their highest level on record in seasonally adjusted terms in March. Prices continued to rise as sales dwarfed the new supply. The number of homes sold across the country […]

Blockbuster Canadian Jobs Report for March

April 9, 2021

Blowout Canadian Job Growth Continued In March This morning, Statistics Canada released the March 2021 Labour Force Survey showing much stronger-than-expected job growth for the second month in a row, pointing towards a Q1 growth rate of more than 5.5%. This survey reflected labour market conditions during the week of March 14 to 20, when public health restrictions were […]