Understanding Firms’ Inflation Expectations Using the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey Staff working paper 2016-7 Simon Richards, Matthieu Verstraete Inflation expectations are a key determinant of actual and future inflation and thus matter for the conduct of monetary policy. We study how firms form their inflation expectations using quarterly firm-level data from the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey, spanning the 2001 to 2015 period. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C2, C25, D, D2, D21, D8, D84, E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E58 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Monetary policy framework and transmission
August 23, 2011 How People Think and How It Matters Remarks Jean Boivin Canadian Association for Business Economics Kingston, Ontario In his speech entitled “How People Think and How it Matters,” delivered to the Canadian Association for Business Economics, Deputy Governor Jean Boivin reviews various ways people form expectations and how these affect monetary policy. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks
October 8, 2006 Modelling Financial Channels for Monetary Policy Analysis Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2006 Ian Christensen, Ben Fung, Césaire Meh The Bank of Canada considers a wide range of information and analysis before making a monetary policy decision and uses carefully articulated models to produce economic projections and to examine alternative scenarios. This article describes an ongoing research agenda at the Bank to develop models in which financial variables play an active role in the transmission of monetary policy actions to economic activity. Such models can help to analyze information from the financial side of the economy and to provide an overall view of the implications of financial developments for the current economic outlook. The authors also explain how this research can help address other issues relevant to the objectives of monetary policy, including how asset-price movements should be taken into account in the monetary policy framework. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles
Revisiting the Monetary Sovereignty Rationale for CBDCs Staff discussion paper 2021-17 Skylar Brooks One argument for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) is that without them, private and foreign digital monies could displace domestic currencies, threatening the central bank’s monetary policy and lender of last resort capabilities. I revisit this monetary sovereignty rationale and offer a wider view—one that considers a broader set of currency functions and captures important cross-country variation. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5, E52, E58, H, H1, H12, H6, H63 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Money and payments, Digital assets and fintech
The Impact of Potential Retail Central Bank Digital Currency on the Canadian Financial System During a Severe Recession Staff analytical paper 2026-30 Sofia Priazhkina This policy note examines how a non-interest-bearing retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) could affect the financial stability of Canada’s systemically important banks during a severe recession. Stress test results show that the banks remain resilient, maintaining key regulatory ratios even under high CBDC demand. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E5, E58, E6, E61, G, G0, G01, G2, G21, G28 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Models and tools, Economic models, Money and payments, Digital assets and fintech, Structural challenges, Digitalization and productivity
Unintended consequences of liquidity regulation Staff analytical note 2025-28 Omar Abdelrahman, Josef Schroth When a bank holds a lot of safe assets, it is well situated to deal with funding stress. But when all banks hold a lot of safe assets, a pecuniary externality implies that their (wholesale) funding costs increase. This reduces banks’ ability to hold capital buffers and thus, paradoxically, increases the frequency of funding stress. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E6, G, G2, G21, G28 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Financial system regulation and oversight
Cash, COVID-19 and the Prospects for a Canadian Digital Dollar Staff discussion paper 2022-17 Walter Engert, Kim Huynh We provide an analysis of cash trends in Canada before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also consider the potential two scenarios for issuance of a central bank digital currency in Canada: the emergence of a cashless society or the widespread use of an alternative digital currency in Canada. Finally, we discuss the Canadian experience in maintaining cash as an efficient and accessible method of payment and store of value. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C9, E, E4, O, O5, O54 Research Theme(s): Money and payments, Cash and bank notes, Digital assets and fintech
Digitalization: Definition and Measurement Staff discussion paper 2023-20 Guyllaume Faucher, Stéphanie Houle This paper provides an overview of digitalization and its economic implications. We assess the scope of digitalization in Canada as well as the challenges related to its measurement. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): E, E0, E01, O, O3, O33, O5, O51 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Structural challenges, Digitalization and productivity
Three things we learned about the Lynx payment system Staff analytical note 2023-14 Nikil Chande, Zhentong Lu, Hiru Rodrigo, Phoebe Tian Canada transitioned to a new wholesale payment system, Lynx, in August 2021. Lynx is based on a real-time settlement model that eliminates credit risk in the system. This model can require more liquidity; however, Lynx’s design allows Canada’s wholesale payments to settle efficiently. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C1, C10, E, E4, E42, G, G2, G28 Research Theme(s): Money and payments, Payment and financial market infrastructures
May 22, 2004 Exchange Rate Pass-Through in Industrialized Countries Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2004 Jeannine Bailliu, Hafedh Bouakez Economists' long-standing interest in the degree to which exchange rate movements are reflected in prices was rekindled in the 1970s by a combination of rising inflation and the adoption of more flexible exchange rate regimes in many industrialized countries. Specifically, there were concerns that a large currency depreciation could degenerate into an inflationary spiral. Such fears were curtailed in the 1980s and early 1990s as industrialized countries began to reduce and stabilize their inflation rates. The low-inflation period most industrialized countries entered approximately a decade ago coincided with significant exchange rate depreciations that had much smaller effects on consumer prices than expected. This led to a belief that the extent to which exchange rate movements are passed through to consumer prices has declined. In this article, the authors examine why pass-through could be incomplete and review empirical estimates to determine whether pass-through has indeed declined, suggesting possible reasons for this decline and discussing the implications for monetary policy. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles