Unpacking interest rate uncertainty in 2025 Staff analytical paper 2026-25 Harshbir Kaur, Rishi Vala Amid heightened Canada–US trade tensions in 2025, financial markets showed signs that investors had greater difficulty anticipating near-term Bank of Canada interest rate decisions. We look at the Overnight Index Swap prices and intraday Government of Canada yields to identify the main driver of uncertainty around interest rate decisions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, D, D5, D53, E, E4, E44, E5, E52, E58 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Deglobalization and Trade Fragmentation: Implications for the Inflation-Output Trade-Off Staff analytical paper 2026-24 Matteo Cacciatore, Daniela Hauser, Yuko Imura How do deglobalization and rising trade costs affect monetary policy? A two-country, multi-sector model of Canada and the United States shows that bilateral trade-cost shocks generate a manageable inflation–output trade-off under the existing framework — but larger or more persistent shocks would make look-through policies costlier and riskier. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): D, D5, D57, E, E5, E52, E58, F, F1, F13, F4, F41, F6, F62 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Monetary policy tools and implementation, Structural challenges, International trade, finance and competitiveness
Recent Evidence on the Resiliency of Flexible Inflation Targeting Staff analytical paper 2026-23 Edoardo Briganti, Wei Dong, Olena Kostyshyna, Soyoung Lee, Florent Samson, Rodrigo Sekkel This paper assesses the resilience of flexible inflation targeting in the presence of large and persistent supply shocks. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Optimal Conventional and Unconventional Monetary Policy Mix Staff working paper 2026-18 Sami Alpanda, Serdar Kabaca, Kostas Mavromatis We show that in a heterogeneous economy, optimal policy after cost-push shocks raises short-term rates to curb inflation while lowering long-term rates to support indebted households, speeding investment and output recovery while increasing consumption inequality. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E4, E40, E43, E5, E52 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Monetary policy tools and implementation
Central Bank Crisis Interventions and the Term Structure of Market Fear Staff working paper 2026-17 Mattia Bevilacqua, Jon Danielsson, Lerby Ergun, Andreas Uthemann, Jean-Pierre Zigrand How do central bank crisis interventions calm market fears? Using options data, we measure the perceived risk of large asset price drops across horizons from two weeks to ten years. Studying the Fed's response to the 2020 turmoil, we find asset purchases reduce short-term fears while interest rate actions shape long-term expectations. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, E, E5, E58, G, G0, G01, G1, G12, G15 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods
Assessing the US and Canadian neutral rates: 2026 update Staff analytical paper 2026-21 Felipe Alves, William Beaudoin, Hélène Desgagnés, Wei Dong, Jan David Schneider, Eugene Trostin, Argyn Toktamyssov, Hannes Twieling We assess the Canadian nominal neutral rate to be in the range of 2.25% to 3.25%, unchanged from our assessment in 2025. We assess the US nominal neutral rate to be in the range of 2.50% to 3.50%, somewhat higher than the range of 2.25% to 3.25% reported in the 2025 assessment. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E5, E52 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Potential output in Canada: 2026 assessment Staff analytical paper 2026-19 Alex Chernoff, Christopher Hajzler, Stéphanie Houle, Gabriella Ruggero, Olena Senyuta, Karanbir Sohal, Walter Steingress, Temel Taskin Growth in potential output is expected to drop from 2.3% in 2025 to 1.2% in 2026 given slowing population growth, US tariffs and trade policy uncertainty. It is then estimated to pick up to an average of 1.5% over 2027–29 as strengthening business and government investment supports trend labour productivity (TLP). Gradual adoption of artificial intelligence is also expected to lift TLP growth over the projection horizon. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E2, E3, E4, E5 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
Communicating the Future Direction of Policy Staff analytical paper 2026-16 Jonathan Witmer, Monica Jain This note discusses several ways the BoC could increase communication around future policy, leveraging methods other central banks have used, and discussing the pros and cons of each method for the BoC, keeping in mind that policy rate forecasts typically are not informative beyond 1 or 2 quarters. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): D, D8, D83, E, E5, E58 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Monetary policy tools and implementation
To Tokenize, or Not to Tokenize: The Design Question for a Central Bank Digital Currency Staff working paper 2026-14 Jonathan Chiu, Cyril Monnet, Oliver Junye Xu This paper develops a general equilibrium model to assess central bank digital currency (CBDC) design in a monetary system where traditional banks and “crypto banks” (i.e., banks that issue stablecoins) coexist. We compare tokenized and non-tokenized CBDC, showing that their desirability depends on the reliability of private money provision, the availability of collateral assets and the features of the crypto sector. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E5, E50, E58 Research Theme(s): Money and payments, Digital assets and fintech, Payment and financial market infrastructures
A buoy on funding tides: How client repo demand and dealer constraints lifted CORRA Staff analytical paper 2026-15 Jean-Sébastien Fontaine, Neil Maru, Sofia Tchamova Pressures on the CORRA benchmark can emerge from the interaction of client borrowing behavior, dealer balance sheet constraints, even if the level of settlement balances is in a range deemed sufficient to meet the requirement of the payment system and the prudential demand of its members. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, G, G2, G23 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Monetary policy, Monetary policy tools and implementation