Bank of Canada Rate Decision: 2026 Schedule, Dates and What to Expect

The Bank of Canada rate decision is the scheduled announcement in which Canada’s central bank sets its target for the overnight rate, the benchmark interest rate that anchors borrowing costs across the Canadian economy. The Bank publishes eight fixed announcements a year, each at 9:45 am ET (2:45 pm London), decided by its six-member Governing Council under Governor Tiff Macklem. The next decision falls on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. Full schedule and background: Bank of Canada rate decision dates. You can add every date on this page to your own calendar using the ICS download or Google Calendar feed at the top of this page, so each announcement lands in your diary automatically.

The policy rate has stood at 2.25% since October 29, 2025, and the Bank has now left it unchanged at six consecutive meetings, most recently on July 15, 2026. The Bank Rate, charged on loans to financial institutions, sits at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.20%.

2026 and 2027 schedule

These are the remaining fixed announcement dates confirmed by the Bank of Canada. All announcements are made at 9:45 am ET, with the time zone shifting between EDT (summer) and EST (winter). Dates marked as Monetary Policy Report meetings are followed by a press conference with the Governor and Senior Deputy Governor at roughly 10:30 am ET.

Source: Bank of Canada schedule of policy interest rate announcements. The Bank normally confirms the following year’s dates in the middle of the preceding year, so the 2028 calendar is expected in 2027.

What is the Bank of Canada rate decision?

The Bank of Canada is Canada’s central bank. Its main job, set out in an agreement with the federal government, is to keep inflation low and stable, with a 2% target inside a control range of 1% to 3%. Its primary tool is the target for the overnight rate: the interest rate at which large financial institutions lend to each other for one night. Move that rate, and the cost of almost every other loan in the country moves with it.

Eight times a year the Bank announces whether that target goes up, goes down or stays where it is. Changes are usually made in steps of 25 basis points. A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point, so 25 basis points equals 0.25%. Four of the eight decisions are accompanied by the Monetary Policy Report, the Bank’s quarterly document setting out its forecasts for growth and inflation, and by a press conference. The other four are announced with a statement only, though the Bank also publishes a summary of Governing Council deliberations about two weeks after every decision.

Canadian rate decisions matter beyond Canada. The Canadian dollar, nicknamed the loonie, is heavily traded, Canada is a major exporter of oil, gas, potash and lumber, and the country’s economy is closely tied to the United States through trade. Global investors also read the Bank of Canada as an early indicator of how other advanced-economy central banks may respond to the same shocks, because it often moves before the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

Rate decisions transmit through the prime rate, the benchmark Canadian lenders use to price variable-rate mortgages, home equity lines of credit and many business loans. When the Bank moves 25 basis points, prime typically moves by the same amount within days.

How is the decision made?

The decision is taken by the Governing Council: the Governor, the Senior Deputy Governor and four deputy governors. Unlike the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada does not publish a vote tally, and there are no named dissents. Decisions are reached by consensus, and the reasoning is set out in the press release and, later, in the published summary of deliberations. That means market participants read the wording of the statement rather than a vote split for signals about the next move.

The Council works from Bank staff forecasts and a wide set of indicators: headline and core inflation from Statistics Canada, in particular the trimmed mean and weighted median core measures that strip out the most volatile price movements, gross domestic product, the Labour Force Survey, wage growth, housing activity, oil prices, the exchange rate and the Bank’s own quarterly Business Outlook Survey and survey of consumer expectations. Because Canada sends the large majority of its exports to the United States, American tariff policy and US demand carry unusual weight.

Rate decisions themselves are never revised, but the data behind them are. Canadian GDP and employment figures are routinely restated, and the Bank’s forecasts are updated every quarter in the Monetary Policy Report. Between scheduled dates the Bank can act, and has in emergencies such as March 2020, but unscheduled moves are rare.

What time is the decision released and where?

Announcements are released at 9:45 am ET, which is 9:45 am in Ottawa and Toronto, 2:45 pm in London during British Summer Time, 3:45 pm in Frankfurt and Paris, 6:45 am in Vancouver, and 10:45 pm in Tokyo and Hong Kong. In the North American winter, when Canada is on Eastern Standard Time, the London equivalent moves to 2:45 pm GMT only if the United Kingdom has also switched clocks, so check the local conversion for December, January and March dates.

The press release appears on the Bank of Canada website at bankofcanada.ca under interest rate announcements, together with the policy rate, the Bank Rate and the deposit rate. On Monetary Policy Report dates the full report is published at the same moment and the press conference follows at about 10:30 am ET, streamed live. There is no pre-release lock-up for the public, and the material is embargoed until 9:45 am ET, so the first headlines and the first market move arrive simultaneously.

The Bank also publishes the summary of Governing Council deliberations roughly two weeks after each decision, and speeches by the Governor and deputy governors in the days that follow often clarify the tone of the statement.

Recent decisions

The Bank raised its policy rate to a cycle peak of 5.00% in July 2023, then reduced it by a cumulative 275 basis points between June 2024 and October 2025 as inflation returned near target and tariff-related weakness hit exports. It has been on hold since.

Source: Bank of Canada interest rate announcements and press releases, bankofcanada.ca.

The July 15, 2026 statement said Canada’s economy is showing signs of improvement, with growth picking up and inflation projected to ease gradually from a recent spike, while flagging risks from higher oil prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East and from US trade policy. The Bank kept its 2026 growth projection at 0.7%. The March 18, 2026 statement had struck a more cautious tone, pointing to volatility in global energy prices and heightened risks to global growth.

How do markets react?

The immediate reaction shows up in three places. First, the Canadian dollar. A decision that is more hawkish than expected, meaning it leans towards higher rates or later cuts, tends to lift the loonie against the US dollar within seconds; a dovish surprise, leaning towards lower rates, tends to weaken it. Second, Government of Canada bonds, where two-year and five-year yields reprice fastest because they reflect expected policy over the next few years. Fixed mortgage rates in Canada are priced off those bond yields, so a decision can change mortgage pricing without the policy rate moving at all. Third, the S&P/TSX Composite, where banks, insurers and rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate investment trusts move most.

Because the Bank publishes no vote split, the language does the heavy lifting. Traders compare the new statement with the previous one line by line, and the removal or addition of a single phrase about the balance of risks can move the currency more than the rate decision itself. On Monetary Policy Report dates, the projections and the press conference frequently produce a bigger move than the 9:45 am release.

Ahead of the September 2, 2026 decision, bond market pricing summarised by mortgage broker nesto pointed to a high probability of no change, with roughly a 1% implied chance of a 25 basis point increase, and about a 32% implied chance of a cut by the October 28 meeting. On the forecasting side, TD Securities said in August 2026 that it expects the overnight rate to stay at 2.25% through 2026 before two 25 basis point increases take it to 2.75% in 2027, and National Bank has published a similar path. These are possibilities priced by markets and published by economists, not certainties.

Spillovers reach beyond Canada. Sterling and euro traders watch Canadian decisions for read-across on how central banks are treating tariff-driven and energy-driven price shocks, and Asian markets, which are closed when the release lands late in the evening Tokyo time, typically react the following morning through the oil price and the currency.

What It Means for Your Money

Mortgages. In Canada, a change in the policy rate feeds almost immediately into the prime rate, so variable-rate mortgage holders and anyone with a home equity line of credit feel it within a billing cycle. Fixed-rate borrowers are unaffected until renewal, but the bond yields that set fixed rates often move on the day of the decision, which can change the quote you are offered. Outside Canada, the direct effect on a UK or European mortgage is nil; the indirect effect comes through global bond yields.

Savings. Higher policy rates generally mean better returns on savings accounts, guaranteed investment certificates and cash funds; lower rates mean the opposite. Savings rates usually adjust more slowly than borrowing rates, so shop around after a change.

Jobs and prices. Rate decisions work with a lag of roughly 12 to 18 months. Keeping rates higher cools demand, hiring and price rises; cutting supports them. When the Bank says the labour market is soft, as it did through 2026, it is signalling that it is watching employment as closely as inflation.

Pensions and investments. Bond prices rise when yields fall, so a dovish surprise tends to help bond holdings in a pension or balanced fund. Canadian bank and property shares are sensitive in both directions. If you hold a global fund, Canada is a small weight, so the effect on your total portfolio is usually modest.

Currency. If you are paid in Canadian dollars, buying property in Canada, or travelling there from the United Kingdom or the eurozone, the decision can shift the exchange rate you get. A weaker loonie makes Canadian goods, holidays and property cheaper for overseas buyers and makes imports more expensive for Canadians.

Related economic events

• FOMC Meeting Dates: the Federal Reserve decisions that most influence Canadian bond yields and the loonie.
• ECB Rate Decisions: the euro area’s policy calendar, useful for comparing how central banks respond to the same energy shocks.
• Bank of Japan Rate Decisions: the main driver of yen crosses and global carry trades.
• US CPI Report: American inflation data that shapes expectations for both the Fed and, indirectly, the Bank of Canada.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the next Bank of Canada rate decision?

Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at 9:45 am ET (2:45 pm London). The following decisions are October 28, 2026, which includes the Monetary Policy Report, and December 9, 2026.

What time is the announcement released?

All fixed announcements are released at 9:45 am Eastern Time, which is 2:45 pm in London during British Summer Time and 6:45 am on Canada’s west coast. On Monetary Policy Report dates a press conference follows at about 10:30 am ET.

How often does the Bank of Canada decide on rates?

Eight times a year on pre-announced dates, four of them with a full Monetary Policy Report and press conference. Emergency moves outside the schedule are possible but rare.

Where can I find the official release?

On the Bank of Canada website at bankofcanada.ca, under interest rate announcements, published at the moment of the embargo lift. A summary of Governing Council deliberations follows about two weeks later.

How does the decision affect my mortgage and savings rates?

A change in the policy rate normally moves Canadian lenders’ prime rate by the same amount within days, which flows straight into variable-rate mortgages and lines of credit, while fixed mortgage rates follow Government of Canada bond yields. Savings and guaranteed investment certificate rates tend to follow the policy rate, but with a longer delay.