Bank of Canada interest rates rate

The Bank of Canada just raised interest rates, 27% of Canadians approve

A plurality of Canadians wanted the Bank of Canada to take a wait-and-see approach before raising interest rates again.

Earlier today, the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 1.5% in order to keep inflation under control. Inflation is currently at a 30-year-high of 6.8%.

The Angus Reid Institute released a study last week assessing Canadians’ opinions about the next steps that the Bank of Canada should take regarding interest rates.

While Canadians were most likely to want the Bank of Canada to keep interest rates unchanged (45%), they were twice as likely to want interest rates to be increased to reduce inflation (27%), rather than decreased to ensure that the housing and investment markets don’t fall (13%).

“The impact of rising interest rates will be felt by Canadians on their mortgages, whether they are on a variable rate or looking to renew their fixed rate mortgages. As well, it’s expected rising interest rates will cool the housing market by decreasing demand as buyers will not be able to qualify for as large as a mortgage as before, or are pushed out of the market entirely.”

—Angus Reid Institute
The Bank of Canada is raising interest rates this week, but should they?

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