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Gordon Thiessen, Governor of the Bank of Canada, delivered the HERMES-Glendon Lecture at York University, Toronto, in March 1995. The speech focussed on the interrelationships of uncertainty and the transmission of monetary policy to the economy. It looked at how the various types of uncertainty influence the behaviour of economic actors, and at how uncertainty affects the transmission of monetary policy through the economy. The first part of the lecture outlines the Bank of Canada's view of the transmission mechanism, with considerable attention paid to the role of uncertainty. In the second part, the various ways in which the Bank has tried to reduce uncertainty are discussed. The various kinds of uncertainty that impinge on the economy and on the policy process are addressed.

The financial services industry has been undergoing significant change in recent years. This paper analyzes some key developments affecting the industry and examines some important issues facing the industry and its regulators.

The Bank of Canada has taken many actions to support Canadians since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. These include large-scale asset purchases—buying a substantial amount of government bonds and other financial assets. Our purchases serve two purposes. They help key financial markets work properly, and they can help increase spending in the economy. This leads to more employment and stronger economic growth.

In this note, I assess the readability of Bank of Canada publications using a formula commonly used for this type of evaluation. I find that Bank publications are more difficult to read than the media articles and other content our target audiences likely consume. This suggests that more simple writing can help the Bank better meet its communication objectives.

This is the first of the Financial Markets Department’s descriptions of Canadian financial industrial organization. The document discusses the organization of the repurchase-agreement (repo) market in Canada.

The Bank opened its doors on 11 March 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, and immediately faced enormous challenges. In meeting those challenges, the new Bank of Canada drew on the experience of other, established central banks. It received valuable guidance in functions such as the issuance of bank notes, managing foreign exchange reserves, and promoting financial stability.

Governor Stephen S. Poloz announces the entry into circulation of the new $5 and $10 polymer bank notes.

In a speech to members of the Financial Markets Association of Canada and Women in Capital Markets, Deputy Governor Agathe Côté discusses risks to the Canadian financial system and reform of the global system.

As the size and complexity of the foreign exchange reserves have grown over the years, enhancements to the management framework needed to keep pace. This is a common theme for most reserve managers around the world. In Canada, the enhancements focused on governance, portfolio management, risk measurement and risk management. This article briefly describes these enhancements, why they were implemented and some of the lessons learned along the way.

The recovery in private business investment globally remains extremely weak more than seven years after the financial crisis. This paper contributes to the ongoing policy debate on the factors behind this weakness by analyzing the role of growth prospects and uncertainty in explaining developments in non-residential private business investment in large advanced economies since the crisis.