The Bank of Canada on Wednesday held its key overnight interest rate unchanged, as expected, and said inflation was broadening even as it warned that the Omicron coronavirus variant has created "renewed uncertainty," Reuters reported The central bank, in a regular rate decision, left its key overnight interest rate at 0.25% and maintained guidance that economic slack would be absorbed in the "middle quarters" of 2022, setting the stage for a first rate hike as soon as April.

Canada will soon crack down on COVID-19 mandates, forcing banks, telecommunications companies and all other federally regulated workspaces to ensure their employees are inoculated, Ottawa said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan made the announcement two months after the government said it would oblige the public sector and employees working in the federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors to get their shots.

The main trucking lobbies in Canada and the United States are warning that vaccine and testing requirements for workers will further disrupt supply chains because there is already a dire shortage of drivers, Reuters reported. Canada will require vaccines for truck drivers starting in January, while the Biden administration has issued rules requiring truck drivers at companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. More than two-thirds of goods traded between Canada and the United States travels on roads and highways.

Canadians who have spent less than 72 hours in another country will no longer need a Covid-19 test to return to Canada, making it easier and cheaper for residents near the 5,500-mile border to make quick trips to the U.S. to pick up groceries, fill gas tanks or go holiday shopping, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. businesses along the Canadian border say they are anticipating a boost in cross-border shopping and tourism after nearly 20 months of suffering from Washington’s decision to ban tourists from entering the U.S. via northern land-border crossings.

Canada’s big banks have weathered the pandemic on the strength of the country’s heated housing market. This week, they’ll get the chance to show whether they also have other avenues for loan growth, Bloomberg News reported. Surging home prices and strong sales have boosted Canadian residential mortgage and home-equity credit balances at the country’s six biggest banks by C$151.2 billion ($118.2 billion) in the past year and a half. That 13% growth outstrips the gain of just 2.8% for all other types of loans from the banks’ domestic divisions since before Covid-19 took hold in North America.

The Bank of Canada is warning a rush of investors into the country’s housing market this year has fueled prices and heightened the risk of a correction, Bloomberg News reported. In a virtual speech on Tuesday to discuss financial stability issues, Deputy Governor Paul Beaudry said that risks around the housing market have intensified following a boom in prices that appear to be driven by speculative activity.

Surging inflation and rising bond yields are set to offer a shot in the arm for Canadian banks' profit margins, which have languished during the pandemic, but an aggressive response by central banks could derail a nascent lending recovery and increase defaults, investors and analysts said, Reuters reported. Canadian banks' loan growth outside of mortgages all but disappeared during the pandemic as lockdowns and surging deposits slowed consumer and business borrowing. Although spending has increased after lockdowns were lifted, that has so far failed to translate into robust credit growth.

Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated again in October, matching a February 2003 high, led by sharp rises in gasoline and housing prices, data showed on Wednesday, with analysts expecting more heat ahead. Inflation rose to 4.7%, in line with expectations, up from 4.4% in September, Statistics Canada data showed. It was the seventh consecutive month in which headline inflation topped the Bank of Canada's 1-3% control range. Prices rose in all eight major component groups for the second month in a row. Analysts said that trend was likely to continue.

Richter Advisory Group has announced that it has been named trustee for Toronto’s Junction Craft Brewing, which has declared insolvency and entered a bankruptcy protection period during which it is soliciting buyers to take over the business, Canadian Beer News reported. Junction operates primarily as a brewer and seller of hand-crafted beers and other beverage products from an approximately 16,513 square foot leased premises located at 150 Symes Road, Toronto, Ontario.

Canadian retailer Le Chateau is making its comeback from bankruptcy today with the online launch of an evening wear collection ahead of the holidays, the Canadian Press reported. The so-called glamour capsule offers shoppers a hint of what to expect with the brand’s relaunch under new owner Suzy’s Inc., the company behind Suzy Shier, set for this spring. Franco Rocchi, senior marketing director of Suzy/Le Chateau, says the curated, limited-edition collection highlights the brand’s focus on high-fashion occasion wear.