Canadian Weekly Review: November 10, 2023
by Charles Hong, Happysona Principal Economist
2 min readNov 11, 2023
Merchandise Trade (September): Record-High Total Trade Volume
- Canada experienced a 2.7% month-over-month (m/m) increase in nominal merchandise exports and a 1.0% m/m rise in imports in September 2023.
- The nominal merchandise trade surplus grew from $949 million in August to $2.0 billion in September, the highest surplus since June 2022.
- When accounting for price effects, real exports saw a marginal 0.2% m/m increase, while real imports experienced a more significant 1.1% m/m jump.
Building Permit (September): Notable Decrease
- September 2023 witnessed a 6.5% reduction in the total value of building permits in Canada, falling to $11.2 billion, the lowest since April 2023.
- This decline was largely attributed to a reduction in the institutional component.
- Residential permits, however, rose by 4.3% to $7.2 billion in September, with British Columbia leading the increase at 37.2%.
Remarks by Carolyn Rogers, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada
- In her speech titled “Financial Stability in a World of Higher Interest Rates,” Carolyn Rogers discussed how elevated government debt and geopolitical risks, including conflicts in Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza, could persistently impact inflation and exert upward pressure on interest rates.
- These factors were underscored in the summary of the Governing Council’s deliberations during October’s policy announcement. The Governing Council stressed their readiness to increase the policy rate further if necessary, in response to the slower-than-anticipated progress towards price stability and the increasing risks of inflation.
Next week’s release of existing home sales and housing starts data for October will reveal the influence of higher interest rates on the housing market.
