Julie Gordon

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday is expected to announce its first half-point interest-rate increase in over 20 years, as the central bank accelerates its tightening timeline to tackle an overheating economy, analysts said.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday raised interest rates by half a percentage point - its biggest single move in more than two decades - and promised more hikes to fight soaring inflation that is being driven in part by the war in Ukraine.

Canada's unemployment rate fell to 5.3% in March, the lowest level on record, highlighting the tightening of the country's labor market, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday, with the economy adding a net 72,500 jobs.

With an election looming, Canada's province of Ontario is moving to rein in surging home prices with populist measures like a bigger foreign-buyer tax, but economists warn rising interest rates are likely to do most of the work.

Canada's exports rose 2.8% in February to a record high, driven mostly by energy products, while imports climbed 3.9% from the previous month, data from Statistics Canada showed on Tuesday, with economists anticipating more gains for exports ahead.

Canada's Liberals find themselves in a bind ahead of this week's budget: the economy has recovered from the pandemic, yet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged billions in new stimulus, a political poker chip that could further torch runaway inflation.

A record number of Canadian businesses are facing capacity pressures amid intense labor shortages and ongoing supply chain difficulties, with many expecting significant wage and input price growth, a regular Bank of Canada survey said on Monday.

The Canadian economy likely gathered momentum in February, growing for a ninth consecutive month after a January gain, data from Statistics Canada showed on Thursday, prompting economists to revise up first quarter projections.

Red-hot inflation has Canadians opening their wallets wider at the grocery store and gas pump, but that's not stopping them from also spending on travel, new cars and home improvements as pent-up demand outweighs cost pressures, at least for now.

Canadian retail sales bounced back in January, beating expectations, as shoppers ventured out to car dealerships and home improvement shops, official data showed Friday, though February retail sales likely fell.

The Bank of Canada is poised to hike its key overnight interest rate for the first time in three years on Wednesday, kicking off a string of increases geared at curbing hot inflation even as Russia's invasion of Ukraine adds to global uncertainty.

A three-week long protest in Canada against pandemic measures that snarled trade and shuttered Ottawa's core likely cost billions in trade delays, tens of millions in lost sales for businesses, and left behind a hefty policing and clean-up tab.

Canadian retail sales most likely rose 2.4% in January from December, preliminary data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday, following on a 1.8% decline in December as consumers stayed home amid concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant.

A sedate strip of Ottawa's downtown has been transformed into a weeks-long street party as anti-vaccine mandate protesters have settled in, complete with barbecues, bouncy castles and a hot tub, drawing the ire of the city's exhausted residents.

A pandemic-driven exodus of young families out of Canada's largest cities has depleted a core age group of workers from the already tight labor market, which experts say risks accelerating wage inflation in certain industries.

US-CANADA-ECONOMY-STATISTICS:Canada's population surges from 2016-2021 on immigration-official data

The delay of a U.S. Gulf Coast liquefied natural gas export project has crystallized fears the U.S. trade battle with China was hampering efforts to line up buyers.

Negotiations entered a crucial phase this week after the United States and Mexico announced a two-way deal on Monday.