The Bank of Canada (BoC) will meet and make its interest-rate decision this week, its fourth of 2025. This will be closely watched, as it always is, as markets try to gain some insight into how the BoC views economic conditions in Canada. That won’t be the only key economic announcement out of Canada this week. And let’s not forget about global markets, which will have several key announcements of their own. Here’s what to watch for this week.

• The BoC announces its interest-rate decision on Wednesday. A Bloomberg survey of economists currently estimates a 25-basis-point rate cut. The BoC held steady at 2.75% at its last meeting.
• Statistics Canada will announce Canada’s labour market data on Friday. In April, Canada’s unemployment rate rose to 6.9% amid tepid job growth. Canada’s labour market has shown signs of slowing in 2025 as consumer and business confidence fades amid tariffs and economic uncertainty.
• In the US, labour market data for May will also be released on Friday. The US economy continues to add jobs despite heightening global trade tensions. The unemployment rate ended April at 4.2%.
• Looking elsewhere, Europe’s inflation rate will be released on Tuesday, China’s services sector activity on Wednesday, the European Central Bank’s interest-rate decision on Thursday and Germany’s trade balance on Friday.
• Notable earnings in Canada include Descartes Systems, Transcontinental and Saputo. Key earnings in the US include Dollar General, Broadcom and Dollar Tree.

In addition to these announcements, global investors will carefully monitor the developments of the “Liberation Day” tariffs through the US court system. Here in Canada, the BoC has lowered interest rates at a relatively aggressive pace and is expected to cut rates again. Just as important might be the BoC’s analysis of current economic conditions in Canada and how that is expected to evolve, particularly after the stronger-than-expected growth in the first quarter.

If you would like to discuss this economic and market update or have questions about your finances and investments, please feel free to contact me anytime.