Bank of Canada holds key rate steady as CUSMA talks loom over its outlook

Bank of Canada holds key rate steady as CUSMA talks loom over its outlookBy Canadian Press on January 28, 2026. But the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement later this year and other emerging geopolitical risks are casting a cloud over the central bank’s outlook. But he also warned that uncertainty remains “unusually high.” Macklem said the bank’s governing council sees the policy rate as “appropriate” based on its outlook, but the “timing or direction of the next change in the policy rate” is difficult to predict. Economists had widely expected the Bank of Canada would hold its policy rate Wednesday. The central bank’s next interest rate decision is set for March 18.