A mid-October decline in crude oil prices produced a bleaker outlook for the immediate future of the Canadian dollar (CAD), which enabled the US dollar (USD) to get back on the front foot in the USD/CAD currency pair.
On October 15, crude oil prices shed over 3.5% of their value in a single day. The CAD is regarded as one of the world’s leading commodity currencies, such is the Canadian economy’s reliance on the money that it generates from exporting key goods.
Any decline in oil prices is liable to weaken the CAD, which thereby strengthens the USD’s position in comparison to the loonie. That was the case in March 2020, where oil prices plummeted to a four-year low and the USD/CAD rose to its highest level since May 2017.
Neither oil prices nor the USD/CAD currency pair behaved so dramatically in mid-October, but the general trends were the same. Experts have expressed their concerns about the future of oil prices in the coming months, so there may be more scope for the US dollar to make gains against its Canadian counterpart.
An otherwise strong year for CAD
While the USD’s position as a safe haven has proven reassuring to traders at several junctures throughout the year, the overarching narrative in 2020 for the USD/CAD currency pair is one of Canadian resilience.
USD/CAD rose by approximately 2% on June 12, with that single-day increase the consequence of the US Federal Reserve taking the investing community by surprise with its indication that interest rates would remain low for the next couple of years. That sent markets scrambling, with oil prices also falling to further weaken the CAD’s position.
Yet that was a fleeting moment of strength for the USD, with the CAD swiftly recovering its losses against the greenback. From June 12 to the start of September, the USD/CAD pair slumped by approximately 4.4%.
That saw its June mark of 1.3638 traded for prices in the region of 1.30 as September began. This is an indication of the strength of the CAD, as fewer Canadian dollars were required to purchase one US dollar.
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That may not seem like a significant drop, given that the USD/EUR retracted by around 5.5% and the USD/GBP shrunk by around 5.9% in the same time period.
However, the USD/CAD currency pair is not one that is known for its volatility. This can be observed through the margin requirements put in place for forex brokers in Canada. Margin requirements contribute to Canada’s strict regulatory environment for currency trading. The margin requirement determines the percentage of their capital that a trader must put forward to open a new position on a market, with a higher margin percentage necessitating more funds upfront.
The reason that margin requirement is a good indication of a currency pair’s traditional volatility is that the pairs more prone to fluctuations have higher percentages. For example, the notoriously unpredictable pair of the South African rand and the Japanese yen (ZAR/JPY) usually comes with a margin requirement of around 29%, whereas the USD/CAD pair has a much more conservative 2% capital requirement for traders seeking to open up a position.
This makes the stretch between June and September for the USD/CAD currency pair particularly notable. The USD clawed back a small proportion of its losses in September, before almost retreating into the 1.31 region. The USD/CAD had not hovered around the 1.30/1.31 mark since January 2020, a testament to the CAD’s resurgence.
Oil concerns to dampen CAD optimism
The news of crude oil’s price decline gave the USD a platform to bounce back, with the USD/CAD ending October 16 at the 1.3225 level. Further gains are likely to be predicated on the long-term forecast for oil prices, with any bleak outlook for the commodity certain to be bad news for the Canadian dollar and the nation’s wider economy.
Other factors inevitably influence the USD/CAD currency pair, given the countries’ heavy trade links and geographical proximity. As demonstrated by that shift in momentum on June 12, the policies announced by either the Federal Reserve or the Bank of Canada can influence market sentiment.
General politics can also be significant. The last few months of 2020 for the USD/CAD are likely to be shaped by the outcome and immediate aftermath of the US presidential election, although this is not a phenomenon unique to the United States and the Canadian economy.
Markets all over the world will be affected by the victor’s presidential vision for the country, with their new social and fiscal policies having the potential to either instill confidence in the American economy or place the long-term future of the US dollar in jeopardy.
Given the US dollar’s prevalence all over the world, as a peg for some currencies and as the central part of dollarized economies, this promises to be an important close to the year. However, crude oil prices may still prove to be the dominant factor in shaping the USD/CAD currency pair.
The International Energy Agency’s October report is grim reading for commodity currencies. The IEA calls the outlook ‘fragile’, raising serious concerns about the long-term prospects for growth in oil demand. The IEA anticipates a stock draw of 4 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of the year, although this statistic should be caveated with the acknowledgement that these figures are coming off the back of record-high levels.
Yet the IEA ends its October report with the declaration that oil producers have little cause for optimism in the long term. At the start of 2020, some experts were predicting that oil prices would not drop below $50 per barrel (bbl) all year. Now, the IEA suggests that the projected curve for oil prices will not reach the $50bbl mark until 2023.
While markets will eventually adapt to these new oil price projections, Canada’s reliance on commodities makes it difficult to foresee any substantial immediate gains for the CAD against the USD. The USD/CAD currency pair may have moved in Canada’s favour for much of the year, but crude oil concerns may provoke momentum in the opposite direction.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
