Canada’s lending industry is witnessing rock-bottom interest rates and unrelenting competition. The former has fuelled borrowing volumes. The latter has been known, on occasion, to encourage looser lending criteria. Together, the two can be destructive to a banking system and economy. That’s why OSFI (Canada’s banking regulator) is being proactive. In a speech today, OSFI […]

ROME— Globe and Mail Update In Asia, the Nikkei 225 lost 2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite was down 2.8 per cent. Most commodities, gold included, were down significantly. Copper prices, which are often viewed as a proxy for global economic growth, lost 4.6 per cent, taking them to a year low. The market […]

OTTAWA — Canada’s annual inflation rate increased to a higher-than-expected 3.1% in August from 2.7% in July, in part due to higher prices for passenger vehicles and electricity, Statistics Canada data reported on Wednesday. Market analysts had expected the annual rate to hit 2.9% in August. Prices grew by 0.3% in August from July, greater […]

OTTAWA — Canadian household debt continued to rise in the second quarter as individuals took out more mortgages at historically low rates and obtained consumer loans, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. The ratio of household credit market debt, which includes mortgages, consumer credit and loans, to disposable income rose to 149% from 147% in the […]

More than 22 years after finding bestselling success with The Wealthy Barber, financial guru David Chilton is back with a non-fiction follow-up. The Wealthy Barber Returns is arguably the best financial planning book since, well, since The Wealthy Barber. The lifelong Kitchener, Ont., resident has departed from the fictional setting of the original, maintaining what […]

Watching the Bank of Canada’s language on the economy change over the past year is like seeing a healthy, upbeat person gradually come around to the idea that a serious illness is overtaking them. A year ago, the central bank was continuing the slow process of raising its key interest rate toward familiar levels, as […]

By Mary Gazze, The Canadian Press Canada’s national housing agency says it expects home sales and construction activity will cool but remain healthy in the second half of the year, due to favourable economic conditions that push up demand for homes. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday that lower unemployment, a steady level of […]

VANCOUVER – Slower job growth in British Columbia’s economy will mean slower increases in home sales and property values through to 2012, the B.C. Real Estate Association said Thursday. And by the end of 2012, the association expects the high-flying prices in some of B.C.’s bigger markets to show small declines. Home sales through the […]

A new report from TD bank suggests that Canadians are upgrading their homes- more quickly and more often then they intended. The TD Canada Trust Repeat Home Buyers Report found that seven-in-ten Canadian repeat buyers were moving before they had planned (42%) or had no stated plans of moving are now looking (27%).  Further, the […]

Calm and caution were the key messages delivered by Mark Carney and Jim Flaherty to Parliament in response to the recent turmoil in world markets. To combat swirling rumours of a looming recession, the two men together addressed Parliament.  Neither man expects to see a global contraction. In terms of financial stimulus as well, both […]