The Bank of Canada (BoC) held its key overnight rate at 5% on Wednesday and said that while underlying inflation was still a concern, the bank's focus is shifting to when to cut borrowing costs rather than whether to hike again, Reuters reported. The BoC governing council has held rates steady at four consecutive policy meetings after last hiking in July. Annual inflation in December accelerated to 3.4%, still higher than the central bank's 2% target but below a June 2022 peak of 8.1%.

Four of Canada's biggest pension funds managing nearly C$1 trillion ($742 billion) in assets have begun a major expansion into private credit, moving into an area previously dominated by banks, Reuters reported. Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investments, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers) and OPTrust told Reuters they intend to increase their exposure to private credit - typically tailored loans to companies underwritten by non-banks.

Canada's banking regulator is to step up its focus on money laundering issues and will work with the country's financial intelligence agency to tackle such incidents, the regulator's head said on Friday, Reuters reported. "The intensity of money laundering risk is under-appreciated ... what you can expect from us is more focus on that issue," Peter Routledge, superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) said at TD Securities annual conference.

More people and businesses in Nova Scotia filed for insolvency over the last year than in any other 12-month period since 2020, another signal of growing financial stress after bankruptcies steeply declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, CBC News reported. The figures come as tens of thousands of businesses across the country, including many in Nova Scotia, face a Thursday deadline to pay back the bulk of their pandemic-era Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans.

Canada's annual inflation rate rose as expected in December, data showed on Tuesday, and underlying prices pressures remained, dashing hopes that the central bank would shift into rate-cut mode early this year, Reuters reported. Annual inflation rose to 3.4% in December from 3.1% in November, matching estimates by economists polled by Reuters. On a monthly basis, consumer prices matched expectations as well and fell 0.3% from November.

Armed with a multibillion-dollar war chest, Canada is offering money to cities to ditch zoning restrictions that thwart residential construction as the country deals with an acute housing shortage, the Wall Street Journal reported. Canada’s Liberal government is targeting municipal-government rules that, among other things, limit the number of units and stories per lot in a bid to increase density in the country’s cities.

Canada's economy gained a net 100 jobs in December, entirely in part-time work, and the jobless rate held at 5.8%, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday, Reuters reported. Employment in the goods producing sector fell by a net 42,900 jobs, largely in manufacturing. The services sector was up by a net 43,100 positions, mostly in professional, scientific and technical services, as well as health care and social assistance. Read more.

Activity in Canada's service sector deteriorated for a seventh consecutive month in December as elevated borrowing costs weighed on the housing market, S&P Global Canada services PMI data showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. The headline business activity index edged up to 44.6 in December from a near three-and-a-half-year low of 44.5 in November. However, it remained well below the 50 threshold which separates expansion from contraction in the sector. The index has been below 50 since June.

The U.S. Supreme Court review of Purdue Pharma’s $6 billion opioid settlement could open the door for Canada’s municipalities and indigenous First Nations—the only two groups not made up of individual claimants that have opposed the deal—to seek compensation they say has been denied them, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Purdue’s bankruptcy plan would compensate thousands of individuals, healthcare providers, and U.S. state and local governments accusing the maker of the OxyContin painkiller of helping to fuel the opioid epidemic.

Electric scooter rental giant, Bird, amidst bankruptcy proceedings in the United States, has conveyed that its Canadian operations will remain unscathed, BNNBreaking.com reported. The assurance comes from Bird Canada’s COO, Alex Petre, who confirmed to CBC News that the Canadian branch operates independently of the U.S. filing. Alex Petre emphasized the significance of the Canadian market for the company and reassured that the availability of scooters in cities like Windsor would endure unimpeded. Bird Global, the parent company, is currently navigating a restructuring phase.