Rising consumer debt nationally has raised concern, and now Canada’s financial regulator is taking action by increasing scrutiny of residential mortgages held by banks, according to media reports. Julie Dickson, superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), said her office is “stepping in to increase the monitoring” of home loans and lines of credit secured by real […]

Canada ranks as the top country among 134 major developed nations for business, according to the annual Best Countries for Business survey by influential business magazine Forbes. The move from fourth in 2010 to top billing is based on a ranking of 11 different factors – including property rights, taxes, freedom of trade, money, corruption, […]

BMO Capital Markets pushed its rate hikes forecast back to 2013 on Tuesday, citing continued serious economic risks both home and abroad. The new forecast pushes the expected time frame for the Bank of Canada to raise its benchmark interest rates back from previous expectations of the second half of 2012. As recently as this […]

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 […]