November 8, 1994 The demand for currency and the underground economy Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 1994 Thérèse Laflèche The underground economy in Canada has attracted increased attention over the past few years, yet there is no precise way to measure its size. Recent estimates vary between 4 per cent and 15 per cent of gross domestic product. This article provides an overview of measurement issues and recent estimates. It then focusses on the "monetary" approach to estimating the size of the underground economy. This approach is based on the assumption that the demand for bank notes provides a clue as to the size of the underground economy. The article concludes that estimates that use this approach must be viewed with considerable caution. They are based on a number of assumptions that are difficult to verify and that significantly affect the results. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles
January 8, 2026 Frequently asked questions about retail payments supervision Find answers to common questions about retail payments supervision.
What Explains the Recent Increase in Canadian Corporate Bond Spreads Staff analytical note 2017-2 Maxime Leboeuf, James Pinnington The spread between the yield of a corporate bond and the yield of a similar Government of Canada bond reflects compensation for possible default by the issuing firm and compensation for additional risks beyond default. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): G, G1, G12 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk
November 8, 2013 Quarterly Financial Report - Third Quarter 2013 Quarterly Financial Report - Third Quarter 2013 - For the period ended 30 September 2013 Content Type(s): Publications, Quarterly Financial Report
Small and smaller: How the economic outlook of small firms relates to size Staff analytical note 2021-14 Chris D'Souza, James Fudurich, Farrukh Suvankulov Firms with fewer than 100 workers employ about 65 percent of the total labour force in Canada. An online survey experiment was conducted with firms of this size in Canada in 2018–19. We compare the responses of small and micro firms to explore how their characteristics and economic outlooks relate to their size. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, D, D2, D22, E, E3, E32 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
October 16, 2024 Operational risk and incident response This supervisory guideline is intended to help payment service providers subject to the Retail Payment Activities Act comply with their obligations related to the identification and mitigation of their operational risks as well as their response to incidents. Content Type(s): Retail payments supervision materials, Supervisory guidelines Subject(s): Retail payments supervision, Supervision
October 16, 2017 Business Outlook Survey - Autumn 2017 Results from the autumn Business Outlook Survey point to continued positive business sentiment across the country, with business activity becoming entrenched. Firms’ prospects remain healthy, although several survey indicators have moderated from the strong summer results. Content Type(s): Publications, Business Outlook Survey
July 13, 2016 Monetary Policy Report – July 2016 Canadian economic growth is projected to accelerate from 1.3 per cent this year to 2.2 per cent in 2017. Content Type(s): Publications, Monetary Policy Report
October 21, 2015 Monetary Policy Report – October 2015 Canada’s economy is expected to grow by 1.1 per cent this year before accelerating to 2.0 per cent in 2016 and 2.5 per cent in 2017. Content Type(s): Publications, Monetary Policy Report
June 14, 2012 An Improved Framework for Assessing the Risks Arising from Elevated Household Debt Financial System Review - June 2012 Umar Faruqui, Xuezhi Liu, Tom Roberts Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Review articles