Methodology: Canada

EconoMonitor Research Desk Last updated 2026-10-26 Data as of 2026-09-30 (data build of 2026-10-26)

EconoMonitor's Canadian series come from the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada, monthly or quarterly from January 2006 where the publisher's history allows. Capital ratios for individual banks and insurers from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) are loaded and checked, and will be published on institution pages once those pages are built.

Sources

  • Bank of Canada Valet API: the policy rate, CORRA and Government of Canada bond yields.
  • Statistics Canada: consumer prices, GDP, unemployment and household credit market debt.
  • OSFI open data: capital and leverage ratios for banks, LICAT ratios for life insurers and MCT ratios for property and casualty insurers.

Checks for this dataset

  • Check A: every series value and every OSFI value rebuilt from the raw tables equals the stored value.
  • Check B: real GDP growth agrees with growth computed from real GDP levels, within 0.1 percentage points of rounding.
  • Check B: each bank's capital ratios are ordered CET1, then Tier 1, then total capital, from lowest to highest.
  • Check B: Tier 1 capital in OSFI's leverage return matches the Tier 1 ratio times risk-weighted assets in the capital return, within 0.5%.
  • Check B: life insurers' LICAT total ratios and property and casualty insurers' MCT ratios equal the ratios rebuilt from their reported components.

Units and periods

Daily Bank of Canada data become monthly values: the monthly average for market rates, and the last value of the month for the policy rate. The current month is left out until it ends. OSFI files label periods by each institution's fiscal quarter; values for institutions whose fiscal year end cannot be determined are marked provisional and are not published. OSFI's aggregate rows are not used, because they add up institutions with different fiscal calendars under one quarter label.

Series definitions

CORRA (Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average)

Monthly average of the daily CORRA.

Unit
percent
Frequency
monthly, not applicable
Formula
average of daily AVG.INTWO values in the month
Source
Bank of Canada Valet API (Valet AVG.INTWO), series AVG.INTWO
Data page
CORRA (Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average)

Consumer price index, all-items

CPI all-items, Canada, not seasonally adjusted.

Unit
index (2002 = 100)
Frequency
monthly, not seasonally adjusted
Source
Statistics Canada Web Data Service (Table 18-10-0004-01), series 18100004:2.2
Data page
Consumer price index, all-items

CPI inflation, 12-month change

Percent change in the all-items CPI from the same month a year earlier.

Unit
percent
Frequency
monthly, not seasonally adjusted
Formula
(ca_cpi / ca_cpi 12 months earlier - 1) x 100
Source
Statistics Canada Web Data Service (Table 18-10-0004-01), series 18100004:2.2 (Consumer price index, all-items); the 12-month rate is derived by EconoMonitor
Data page
CPI inflation, 12-month change

Government of Canada 10-year benchmark bond yield

Monthly average of the daily 10-year benchmark bond yield.

Unit
percent
Frequency
monthly, not applicable
Formula
average of daily BD.CDN.10YR.DQ.YLD values in the month
Source
Bank of Canada Valet API (Valet BD.CDN.10YR.DQ.YLD), series BD.CDN.10YR.DQ.YLD
Data page
Government of Canada 10-year benchmark bond yield

Government of Canada 10-year minus 2-year yield spread

Difference between the monthly average 10-year and 2-year benchmark yields.

Unit
percentage points
Frequency
monthly, not applicable
Formula
ca_goc_10y - ca_goc_2y
Source
Bank of Canada Valet API (Valet), series BD.CDN.10YR.DQ.YLD (Government of Canada 10-year benchmark bond yield), BD.CDN.2YR.DQ.YLD (Government of Canada 2-year benchmark bond yield); the spread is derived by EconoMonitor
Data page
Government of Canada 10-year minus 2-year yield spread

Government of Canada 2-year benchmark bond yield

Monthly average of the daily 2-year benchmark bond yield.

Unit
percent
Frequency
monthly, not applicable
Formula
average of daily BD.CDN.2YR.DQ.YLD values in the month
Source
Bank of Canada Valet API (Valet BD.CDN.2YR.DQ.YLD), series BD.CDN.2YR.DQ.YLD
Data page
Government of Canada 2-year benchmark bond yield

Household credit market debt

Household sector credit market debt (national balance sheet basis).

Unit
CAD
Frequency
quarterly, seasonally adjusted
Source
Statistics Canada Web Data Service (Table 38-10-0238-01), series 38100238:1.13
Data page
Household credit market debt

Household credit market debt to disposable income

Household sector credit market debt as a percent of household disposable income.

Unit
percent
Frequency
quarterly, seasonally adjusted
Source
Statistics Canada Web Data Service (Table 38-10-0238-01), series 38100238:1.11
Data page
Household credit market debt to disposable income

Real GDP at basic prices, all industries (monthly)

GDP at basic prices, all industries, chained (2017) dollars, seasonally adjusted at annual rates.

Unit
CAD (chained 2017 dollars, annual rate)
Frequency
monthly, SAAR
Source
Statistics Canada Web Data Service (Table 36-10-0434-01), series 36100434:1.1.1.1
Data page
Real GDP at basic prices, all industries (monthly)

Bank of Canada policy rate (target for the overnight rate)

Target for the overnight rate on the last business day of the month.

Unit
percent
Frequency
monthly, not applicable
Formula
last daily value of V39079 in the month
Source
Bank of Canada Valet API (Valet V39079), series V39079
Data page
Bank of Canada policy rate (target for the overnight rate)

Real GDP (expenditure-based)

Gross domestic product at market prices, chained (2017) dollars, seasonally adjusted at annual rates.

Unit
CAD (chained 2017 dollars, annual rate)
Frequency
quarterly, SAAR
Source
Statistics Canada Web Data Service (Table 36-10-0104-01), series 36100104:1.1.1.30
Data page
Real GDP (expenditure-based)

Real GDP growth (quarter on quarter, not annualized)

Percent change in real GDP from the previous quarter, as published by Statistics Canada.

Unit
percent
Frequency
quarterly, SAAR
Source
Statistics Canada Web Data Service (Table 36-10-0104-01), series 36100104:1.7.1.30
Data page
Real GDP growth (quarter on quarter, not annualized)

Unemployment rate

Unemployment rate, Canada, 15 years and over, both genders, seasonally adjusted (Labour Force Survey).

Unit
percent
Frequency
monthly, seasonally adjusted
Source
Statistics Canada Web Data Service (Table 14-10-0287-01), series 14100287:1.7.1.1.1.1
Data page
Unemployment rate

Built from data build 20261026T074019Z, exported 2026-10-26.