All eyes turn to central banks as the Bank of Canada (BoC) and the US Federal Reserve Board (Fed) make their final interest rate decisions of 2025 this week. Both central banks have cut interest rates this year, but on different timelines. Those won’t be the only critical announcements from North America and around the world as investors seek clues on the health of the global economy heading into 2026. Here’s what to watch for this week.

• The BoC will make its interest rate announcement on Wednesday morning. The BoC lowered its policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.25% at its last meeting, but it is expected to hold steady on any further decreases at this meeting. The BoC said it believes interest rates are at an appropriate level given the prevailing economic conditions.
• On Wednesday afternoon, it will be the Fed’s turn to make its interest rate announcement. The Fed cut the target range of its federal funds rate to 3.75%–4.00% at its October meeting. The minutes of the October meeting showed Fed officials divided on an interest rate cut, but markets are expecting the Fed to cut interest rates.
• Elsewhere, Germany’s industrial production will be released today, Mexico and China’s inflation rate on Tuesday, Brazil’s retail sales on Thursday, and on Friday, Japan’s industrial production and UK’s gross domestic product.
• Key corporate earnings in Canada include those from Transcontinental, Empire Co., Dollarama and Lululemon. Notable earnings in the US include those from Campbell’s, GameStop, Oracle, Adobe and Costco.

Markets’ attention will be squarely on the BoC and Fed’s decisions on Wednesday. However, as always, there will be plenty of critical announcements that will help investors gain insight into the North American and global economies. While the number of earnings announcements are slowing, some critical ones will give a glimpse into overall business activity in Canada and the US.

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.