Search

2013 proved to be a challenging year for the Bank of Canada. Inflation continued to drift below target, and the economy failed to move onto a more sustainable track. The 2013 Annual Report highlights key achievements over the year, describes the Bank’s corporate governance, and presents the financial statements in conjunction with Management’s Discussion and Analysis.

In 2021, the Bank of Canada and the federal government renewed the agreement on Canada’s monetary policy framework. To inform our discussions, the Bank conducted a broad range of public outreach activities between 2019 and 2021. This report summarizes our findings.

Systemically important payments systems are systems that, because of the size or the nature of the payments they process, could trigger or transmit serious shocks across domestic or international financial systems if they were insufficiently protected against risk. This article describes the overall framework of core principles developed for the design, operation, and oversight of such payments systems. The article reviews the role of the task force established to develop the core principles and examines the core principles themselves. It also examines the role of central banks in overseeing major payments systems and in applying the core principles to them. The focus is on the Bank of Canada's oversight responsibilities under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act and on Canada's systemically important payments system—the LVTS.

It's not surprising that the Bank of Canada is interested in promoting economic integrity. After all, the Bank of Canada Act mandates us, as far as possible within the scope of monetary policy action, to "promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada."

Three major interrelated global developments are having a profound impact on the Canadian economy and making the outlook more uncertain than it was at the time of the July Monetary Policy Report Update.

Deputy Governor Lynn Patterson discusses how the Canadian economy is adjusting to the fall in commodity prices.

At the Bank of Canada, we assessed the life cycle of bank notes to confirm that polymer notes have a smaller environmental footprint than paper notes. Polymer notes have a longer life and then are recycled.

How can we develop human capital to its fullest potential, and retain that capital? How can we foster research, innovation, and commercialization in this province? How can we improve Ontario's competitiveness in the global marketplace?

Over the last 30 years, the business mix of banks in Canada has changed significantly. Progress in information-processing technology, legislative changes, and market forces have combined to blur the traditional distinctions between banks and other financial institutions and have allowed banks to offer a much wider range of products and services. In this article, the author reviews the expansion of bank lending to households over this period and their recent movement into personal wealth management. While these trends were facilitated by revisions to legislation, they also reflected the changing needs of the "baby boom" generation, first as home-buyers and, more recently, as middle-aged investors. On the commercial and corporate side, banks reacted to the rapid expansion of securities markets (and to the reduced demand for intermediation by both lenders/depositors and borrowers) by moving into investment banking, after legislative changes opened this business to them in the late 1980s. They also used their expertise in credit assessment and risk management to provide credit guarantees and to act as counterparties and intermediaries in derivatives markets. Notable in this broadening of bank activities has been their more recent entry into the trust, mutual fund, and retail brokerage business. The banks have also made preliminary forays into insurance. The expansion of off-balance-sheet activities has made fee income an increasingly important part of bank earnings. The article also looks at the emerging tools and techniques that will most likely transform the structure of banking in the future.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and committee members. I am pleased to introduce you to Carolyn Wilkins, who assumed the post of Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada on 2 May of this year. Before we take your questions, let me give you some of the highlights of the economic outlook. I’ll draw mainly […]