Economic Indicators

Flaherty tightens mortgage rules

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has announced new rules for mortgage lending and home equity credit lines designed to rein in growing debt among Canadians. The first of three new measures reduces the maximum amortization period from 35 to 30 years for new government-backed insured mortgages with loan-to-value ratios higher than 80%. “This will significantly reduce […]

By Dean DiSpalatro |January 17, 2011

3 min read

Economic Indicators

“Debt diet” starts today

This morning’s announcement by the Finance Minister is the start of a government program to put Canadians on a “debt diet”, according to CIBC World Markets. While this may remove some liquidity from the market, it should make economic growth more sustainable in 2011. “Canada’s economic mix has been the polar opposite of the U.S., […]

By Steven Lamb |January 17, 2011

2 min read

Economic Indicators

Mercer sees modest growth for 2011

2010 was a good year for the Canadian economy. “Canada was one of the first G7 nations to climb out of the recession,” said Mark Fieldhouse, principal, investment consulting practice, with Mercer, speaking today at Mercer’s 2011 Fearless Forecast at The Toronto Board of Trade.

By Brooke Smith |January 13, 2011

1 min read

Economic Indicators

StatsCan: Previous recessions were worse

Statistics Canada reports that even though the 2010 recession was swift to take hold and was a steep fall, it was nothing compared to the two previous ones: 1981-1982 and 1990-1992.

By Wire services |January 13, 2011

1 min read

U.S. recovery to gain steam: UBS

Three years after the recession technically began in the U.S., things are starting to shape up, according to the economics team at UBS, which is predicting 3.3% nominal GDP growth for full-year 2011. That predicting makes the firm a bit of an outlier, as consensus estimates call for just 2.6% growth. “Monetary and fiscal policy […]

By Steven Lamb |January 10, 2011

2 min read

Where does the smart loonie fly?

There's been a lot of talk lately about the Canadian dollar hitting parity against its U.S. counterpart, and the impact that has had – and will continue to have – on the Canadian manufacturing sector.

By Steven Lamb |January 6, 2011

2 min read

Consumer, investor confidence holds up

Consumer confidence remained steady for most of 2010 in Canada, according to the Harris/Decima-Investor’s Group Index of Canadian Consumer Confidence. The overall measure was steady for the last six months after reaching a post-recession high of 89.0 in February. It closed at 82.8 in November. “Nationally, this year has seen Canadian consumer confidence dip for […]

By Brooke Smith |December 29, 2010

2 min read

Economics of retirement in 2010

As we move toward the end of 2010, it’s worth reviewing what has changed – and what hasn’t – in the economics of retirement. We’ll do that by looking at the performance of the global economy and markets this year, investor perceptions of that performance and the ongoing public policy discussions around retirement income in Canada, as well as the impact that each of these factors might have on those who are saving and investing for retirement.

By Peter Drake |December 22, 2010

6 min read

Economic Indicators

Flaherty tightens mortgage rules

“Debt diet” starts today

Mercer sees modest growth for 2011

StatsCan: Previous recessions were worse

U.S. recovery to gain steam: UBS

Where does the smart loonie fly?

Economists predict growth in major markets

Yearning for yields

Consumer, investor confidence holds up

Economics of retirement in 2010