Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada to move to a single set of credit statistics

Currently, the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada both produce aggregate measures of borrowing, or credit, for sectors of the Canadian economy.

Following a recent comprehensive reconciliation study on credit aggregates, the two organizations have agreed to move to a single set of credit statistics, to be produced by Statistics Canada. This will provide users improved coherence, accuracy and interpretability1. As a result, by the end of 2020, the Bank will stop disseminating credit aggregates and securities statistics, both of which are used in the derivation of business credit.

Credit aggregates

The Bank will continue to produce monthly credit aggregates until October 2020, with the release of September 2020 data.

After October 2020, Statistics Canada will produce monthly credit aggregates that will align with the concepts of Statistics Canada’s National Balance Sheet Accounts program. These new credit aggregates will be available on Statistics Canada’s tables: Credit Liabilities of Households, Credit Liabilities of Private Non-Financial Corporations, and Credit Assets of the Financial Corporations Sector. The first release will be on December 18, 2020, covering the period January 1990 to October 2020.

The Bank’s historical credit aggregates will remain available in the Banking and Financial Statistics table, and the following CANSIM tables:

• Consumer credit, outstanding balances of selected holders (CANSIM table 10-10-0117-01)
• Residential mortgage credit, outstanding balances of major private institutional lenders (CANSIM table 10-10-0129-01)
• Selected credit measures, monthly average or average of month-ends, unadjusted (CANSIM table 10-10-0114-01)
• Credit measures (CANSIM table 10-10-0118-01)

Securities statistics

The Bank will stop disseminating select securities statistics gradually:

• In 2019, the Bank will stop publishing securities statistics on provincial and municipal governments sectors in September for quarterly series and November for monthly series.
• In 2020, securities statistics for financial and non-financial corporations will be respectively discontinued in the second and third quarters – this will include Government Business Enterprises.

The Bank will continue its current dissemination for Government of Canada securities data given its role as the Government’s fiscal agent.

Statistics Canada’s debt securities program provides an alternative data source that is accessible through their visualization tool. Equities data will be published in the future.

Securities data are also available in the following two quarterly CANSIM tables:

• Debt securities issues by sector, currency, maturity, type of interest rate and market of issuance (net transactions)
• Debt securities issues by sector, currency, maturity, type of interest rate and market of issuance (positions)

The Bank’s historical securities data will remain available in the Banking and Financial Statistics tables, and their respective CANSIM tables:

• Corporate and other short-term paper outstanding (CANSIM tables 10-10-0121-01 and 10-10-0156-01)
• Capital markets activities: Gross new issues, retirements and net new issues of securities (CANSIM table 10-10-0003-01)
• Bonds outstanding by currency of payments and issuers (CANSIM table 10-10-0130-01)
• Net new issues of securities by corporations and federal government enterprises: Industrial classification (CANSIM table 10-10-0007-01)