Skip to content

Provincial and territorial finance ministers to meet in Toronto

2023020218020-244809d4-db0b-4847-80ab-d8957f32cc08
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland arrives to a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. Freeland is hosting an in-person meeting Friday with the provincial and territorial finance ministers in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

TORONTO — Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is hosting an in-person meeting today with the provincial and territorial finance ministers in Toronto. 

The meeting comes at a tense time for many Canadian consumers, with inflation still running hot and interest rates much higher than they were a year ago.

The Bank of Canada raised its key rate again last week, bringing it to 4.5 per cent, but signalled it's taking a pause to let the impact of its aggressive hiking cycle sink in.

The economy is showing signs of slowing, but inflation is still high at 6.3 per cent in December, with food prices in particular remaining elevated year over year. 

Interest rates have put a damper on the housing market, sending prices and sales downward for months on end even as the cost of renting went up in 2022. 

Meanwhile, the labour market has remained strong, with the unemployment rate nearing record lows in December at five per cent. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2023.

The Canadian Press


Looking for National Business News?

VillageReport.ca viewed on a mobile phone

Check out Village Report - the news that matters most to Canada, updated throughout the day.  Or, subscribe to Village Report's free daily newsletter: a compilation of the news you need to know, sent to your inbox at 6AM.

Subscribe