Policy Interest Rate

Recent Data

A History of the Key Interest Rate

Over the years, the Bank of Canada has adjusted the way it sets its key interest rate. Following is a brief history of the key rate from the Bank's founding in 1935 until the present.

Bank Rate

• March 1935 to November 1956
  The original key interest rate was the Bank Rate. This is the minimum rate of interest that the Bank of Canada charges on one-day loans to financial institutions. Between March 1935 and November 1956, the Bank Rate was fixed, set directly by the Bank.
• November 1956 to June 1962
  The Bank Rate became a floating rate, set at 25 basis points above the average yield on 3-month treasury bills at the federal government's weekly auction.
• June 1962 to March 1980
  The Bank Rate was again fixed, set directly by the Bank.
• March 1980 to February 1996
  The Bank Rate was returned to a floating rate, set at 25 basis points above the average yield on 3-month treasury bills at the federal government's weekly auction.
• 22 February 1996 to Present
  Since 1996, the Bank Rate has been set by the Bank at the top of its operating band for the overnight rate (see next column.) This provides a clearer indicator of monetary policy intentions, because the Bank's influence on the overnight rate is more direct than on 3-month treasury bill rates.
• December 2000
  The Bank began setting the level of the Bank Rate—and with it, the target for the overnight rate—on eight fixed dates per year.

From the Bank Rate to the "Target for the Overnight Rate"

• June 1994

  The Bank began shifting emphasis from the Bank Rate to the target for the overnight rate as its key monetary policy instrument.

  This shift followed the Bank's introduction of a 50-basis-point "operating band" for the overnight rate, which is the rate at which major participants in the money market borrow and lend one-day (or overnight) funds among themselves.

  At that time, the Bank used daily adjustments in the level of settlement balances to set a "target level" for the overnight rate within the operating band. Specifically, the Bank would intervene with PRA and SPRA when the overnight rate hit the top or bottom of the operating band.

• February 1999

  With the advent of the Large Value Transfer System (LVTS), the target for the overnight rate was defined as the midpoint of the band, or 25 basis points below the Bank Rate.

  The shift in emphasis toward the target for the overnight rate was clearly communicated to the markets with the launch of the LVTS.

• May 2001

  The Bank began emphasizing the target as its key interest rate in its communications with the public.

  Because the target affects the interest rates that financial institutions charge each other from day to day, it usually affects other interest rates, such as mortgages and consumer loans.

  The target for the overnight rate is also the most appropriate policy rate for international comparisons; for example, with the target for the federal funds rate in the United States and with the two-week repo rate in the United Kingdom.

Implementation of Fixed Announcement Dates