Thank you for the warm welcome and thank you to the Windsor–Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce for having me today. It’s a real pleasure to be here. Yesterday the Bank of Canada announced that we will hold the policy interest rate at 5%. I will expand a bit on our discussion and the thinking behind our decision. Then I will dive into recent shifts in Canada’s population growth, focusing in on how newcomers contribute to our economy. Immigration is one of Canada’s greatest strengths. Our country is known as a welcoming place for newcomers. And Canadians are admired for how we help new arrivals succeed—both in our ... (full story)

{video} We decided to hold the policy rate at 5%, largely because monetary policy has been working to cool the economy and relieve price pressures. But we are not yet where we want to be. Overall, the economy no longer seems to be in a state of excess demand, but we still need to see inflation come down further. We continue to keep an eye on inflation expectations, wage growth and the pricing behaviour of corporations to help us see if we are on a sustained path back to our 2% target. Canada has one of the fastest-growing populations among advanced economies, thanks largely to immigration. The number of permanent and ... (full story)