Canadian retail sales grew much more than expected in April and will likely post another gain in May, data showed on Wednesday, bolstering the chances that the Bank of Canada will raise rates again in next month, Reuters reported. Retail sales climbed 1.1% in April, higher than a median forecast for a 0.2% increase, Statistics Canada said. In a preliminary estimate, Statscan said sales increased by another 0.5% in May.

Canada's financial regulator on Tuesday said that it was raising the amount of capital the country's biggest lenders must hold as a stability buffer by 50 basis points to 3.5%, citing stresses on the financial system, Reuters reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) in a statement said the change would come into effect on Nov. 1. The statement cited concerns over high household and corporate debt levels, the rising cost of debt, and increased global uncertainty around fiscal and monetary policy.

Canada's national statistics agency on Tuesday revealed new weights for the basket of goods and services in its Consumer Price Index, giving more prominence to changes in the prices of food and gasoline, Reuters reported. The reweighting, which Statistics Canada carries out every year, has historically had only a marginal impact on the headline number. The new basket weights will be applied to May's inflation data, due out on June 27. The rebalancing reflects changes in 2022 compared to 2021.

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians say higher borrowing costs are squeezing their pocketbooks, a result that’s at odds with a recent rebound in household consumption, Bloomberg News reported. Some 64% of Canadians say higher interest rates are having a negative or somewhat negative impact on their personal spending, according to a Nanos Research Group survey conducted for Bloomberg News. Another 28% said there was no impact, while 6% said the impact was positive. The survey may raise questions about why a spending slowdown hasn’t yet shown up in the data.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government stopped Canada’s work with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank while it investigates claims the institution faces substantial interference from the Chinese government, Bloomberg News reported. “Canada will immediately halt all government-led activity at the bank,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters Wednesday in Ottawa.

Canada's financial regulator is urging lenders to tackle risks from mortgage extensions at the "earliest opportunity" as many borrowers try to navigate higher mortgage costs after the Bank of Canada's surprise rate hike last week, Reuters reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions' (OSFI) urgency underscores the concern about the risk accumulating in Canadian lenders' books as the central bank has resumed interest rate hike after a four-month pause.

A judge has approved a plan to sell an insolvent St. Lawrence fluorspar mine, mill and marine terminal to a new owner, with a formal share purchase agreement to be formalized as early as Friday, the CBC reported. The purchaser plans to restart the operation, though a timeline has not been revealed. Those owed money by Canada Fluorspar Inc., however, can expect "substantial" losses, or zero repayment on liabilities that total more than $140 million, according to Justice Alexander (Sandy) MacDonald of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday hiked its overnight rate to a 22-year high of 4.75%, and markets and analysts immediately forecast yet another increase next month to ratchet down an overheating economy and stubbornly high inflation, Reuters reported. The central bank had been on hold since January to assess the impact of previous hikes after raising borrowing costs eight times since March 2022 to a 15-year high of 4.50% - the fastest tightening cycle in the bank's history.

Canada’s economy hasn’t buckled under the weight of higher borrowing costs. On the contrary: strong growth has more economists predicting the central bank will resume raising interest rates soon, Bloomberg News reported. Thirteen of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg say the Canadian economy is proving less sensitive to higher rates than previously believed. Almost half now say the Bank of Canada will raise its benchmark overnight rate, currently 4.5%, between now and September. In the March survey, analysts unanimously said Governor Tiff Macklem’s next move would be a cut.

The Canadian economy started off strong in the second quarter, extending a streak of better-than-expected growth and boosting the likelihood of another Bank of Canada rate hike, Bloomberg News reported. Preliminary data suggest gross domestic product rose 0.2% in April, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday in Ottawa, led by mining, oil and gas, transportation and real estate. That followed a flat reading in the previous month, exceeding expectations for a 0.1% contraction in a Bloomberg survey of economists.