Tariff Turmoil Takes Its Toll

Statistics Canada released Q2 GDP data, showing a weaker-than-expected -1.6% seasonally adjusted annual rate, in line with the Bank of Canada’s forecast, but a larger dip than the consensus forecast. The contraction primarily reflected a sharp decline in exports, down 26.8%, which reduced headline GDP growth by 8.1 percentage points. Business fixed investment was also weak, contracting 10.1%, mainly due to a 32.6% decline in business equipment spending.

Exports declined 7.5% in the second quarter after increasing 1.4% in the first quarter. As a consequence of United States-imposed tariffs, international exports of passenger cars and light trucks plummeted 24.7% in the second quarter. Exports of industrial machinery, equipment and parts (-18.5%) and travel services (-11.1%) also declined.

Amid the counter-tariff response by the Canadian government to imports from the United States (which has now been rescinded), international imports declined 1.3% in the second quarter, following a 0.9% increase in the previous quarter. Lower imports of passenger vehicles (-9.2%) and travel services (-8.5%; primarily Canadians travelling abroad) were offset by higher imports of intermediate metal products (+35.8%), particularly unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals.

Export (-3.3%) and import (-2.3%) prices fell in the second quarter, as businesses likely absorbed some of the additional costs of tariffs by lowering prices. Given the larger decline in export prices, the terms of trade—the ratio of the price of exports to the price of imports—fell 1.1%.

But the report was not all bad news. Consumer resilience was also evident. Household consumption spending accelerated in Q2. Personal spending rose 4.5% compared to 0.5% in Q1. Government spending also notably contributed to growth.

An improvement in housing activity also added to economic activity. Residential investment grew at a firm rate of 6.3%, compared to a decline of 12.2% in the first quarter of the year.

Final domestic demand rose 3.5% annualized, reflecting resilience and perhaps Canadians’ boycott of US travel or US products. However, income growth was up just 0.7% year-over-year (at an annual rate), which pulled the savings rate down one percentage point to 5.0%, potentially hampering consumers’ ability to continue their spending.

Inventories of finished goods and inputs to the production process increased by 26.9%, reflecting the Q1 stockpiling of goods that would be subject to future tariffs.

While Q2 was soft, June GDP was arguably more disappointing at -0.1% m/m, two ticks below consensus. Manufacturing was the surprise, falling 1.5%. Services were mixed, with gains in wholesale and retail offsetting some broader weakness. The July flash estimate was +0.1% (on the firmer side, given some of the soft data thus far), but the June figure makes it clear that the final print can be quite different.

The Bank had Q2 GDP at -1.5% in their July Monetary Policy Report, so the miss was minor. And, the strength in domestic demand highlights the economy’s resilience. One negative is that Q3 is tracking softer than their +1% estimate (closer to +0.5%), but it’s still very early, and things can change materially.

Bottom Line

The odds are no better than even for the Bank of Canada to cut rates when they meet again on September 17. There are two key data releases before then — the August Labour Force Survey, released August 5, a week from today, and the August CPI release on September 16. We would have to see considerable weakness in both reports to trigger a Canadian rate cut next month.

A Fed rate cut is far more likely, as telegraphed by Chair Jay Powell at the annual Jackson Hole confab. The battle between the White House and the Fed has intensified with President Trump’s firing of Governor Lisa Cook, the first Black woman on the Board and a Biden appointee. If Trump were to succeed, it would enable him to appoint a majority of the Federal Reserve Board, potentially allowing him to dictate monetary policy.

Trump wants significantly lower interest rates in the US, but even if he succeeds, only shorter-term rates would decline. The loss of Fed independence could lead to higher, longer-term interest rates, which could likely result in higher fixed mortgage rates in Canada. Moreover, inflation pressures could intensify, leading to continued upward pressure on bond yields and diminishing the potential appeal of floating-rate mortgage loans.

Dr. Sherry Cooper
Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres
drsherrycooper@dominionlending.ca

Canadian Homebuyers Return in July, Posting the Fourth Consecutive Sales Gain

Today’s release of the July housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed good news on the housing front. Following a disappointing spring selling season, National home sales were up 3.8% in July from the month before, with Toronto seeing transactions rebound 35.5% since March. However, the total number of Toronto sales remains low by historical standards.

On a year-over-year basis, total transactions have risen 11.2% since March.

There is growing confidence that the Canadian economy will resiliently weather the tariff trauma. The Canadian dollar is up, and longer-term interest rates have edged downward in the past ten days. Traders are now anticipating a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September.

Tuesday’s release of the Canadian CPI will provide another data point for the Bank of Canada. Economic growth has held up, in large part because much of the pain from tariffs has been confined to industries singled out for levies, including autos, steel and aluminum.

Shaun Cathcart, the real estate board’s senior economist, said, “With sales posting a fourth consecutive increase in July, and almost 4% at that, the long-anticipated post-inflation crisis pickup in housing seems to have finally arrived. The shock and maybe the dread that we felt back in February, March and April seem to have faded,” as people become less concerned about their future employment.

New Listings

New supply was little changed (+0.1%) month-over-month in July. Combined with the notable increase in sales, the national sales-to-new listings ratio rose to 52%, up from 50.1% in June and 47.4% in May. The long-term average for the national sales-to-new listings ratio is 54.9%, with readings roughly between 45% and 65% generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions.

There were 202,500 properties listed for sale on all Canadian MLS® Systems at the end of July 2025, up 10.1% from a year earlier and in line with the long-term average for that time of the year.

“Activity continues to pick up through the transition from the spring to the summer market, which is the opposite of a normal year, but this has not been a normal year,” said Valérie Paquin, CREA Chair. “Typically, we see a burst of new listings right at the beginning of September to kick off the fall market, but it seems like buyers are increasingly returning to the market.

There were 4.4 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of July 2025, dropping further below the long-term average of five months of inventory as sales continue to pick up. Based on one standard deviation above and below that long-term average, a seller’s market would be below 3.6 months, and a buyer’s market would be above 6.4 months.

Home Prices

The National Composite MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) was unchanged between June and July 2025. Following declines in the first quarter of the year, the national benchmark price has remained mostly stable since May.

The non-seasonally adjusted National Composite MLS® HPI was down 3.4% compared to July 2024. This was a smaller decrease than the one recorded in June.

Based on the extent to which prices fell off in the second half of 2024, look for year-over-year declines to continue to shrink in the months ahead.

Bottom Line

Homebuyers are responding to improving fundamentals in the Canadian housing market. Supply has risen as new listings surged until May of this year. Additionally, the benchmark price was $688,700, 3.4% lower than a year earlier. That decrease was smaller than in June, and the board expects year-over-year declines to continue shrinking, it said in a statement.

While many expect the Fed to ease in September, I’m not sure it will happen. The producer price index came in hotter than expected this week. Fed action will depend mainly on the personal consumption expenditures index (PCE), the Fed’s favourite measure of inflation, which will be out on August 29.

US stagflation worries have emerged with the release of the July employment report, which showed considerable weakness, enough to get the head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics fired. The likelihood of a BoC cut will increase if the Fed begins a series of easing moves as the administration is demanding.

Dr. Sherry Cooper
Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres
drsherrycooper@dominionlending.ca

Today’s CPI Report Shows Headline Inflation Cooling, But Core Inflation Remains Troubling

Canadian consumer prices decelerated to 1.7% y/y in July, a bit better than expected and down two ticks from June’s reading.
Gasoline prices led the slowdown in the all-items CPI, falling 16.1% year over year in July, following a 13.4% decline in June. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.5% in July, matching the increases in May and June.

Gasoline prices fell 0.7% m/m in July. Lower crude oil prices, following the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, contributed to the decline. In addition, increased supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) put downward pressure on the index.

Moderating the deceleration in July were higher prices for groceries and a smaller year-over-year decline in natural gas prices compared with June.

The CPI rose 0.3% month over month in July. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI was up 0.1%.

In July, prices for shelter rose 3.0% year over year, following a 2.9% increase in June, with upward pressure mostly coming from the natural gas and rent indexes. This was the first acceleration in shelter prices since February 2024.

Prices for natural gas fell to a lesser extent in July (-7.3%) compared with June (-14.1%). The smaller decline was mainly due to higher prices in Ontario, which increased 1.8% in July after a 14.0% decline in June.

Rent prices rose at a faster pace year over year, up 5.1% in July following a 4.7% increase in June. Rent price growth accelerated the most in Prince Edward Island (+5.6%), Newfoundland and Labrador (+7.8%) and British Columbia (+4.8%).

Moderating the acceleration in shelter was continued slower price growth in mortgage interest cost, which rose 4.8% year over year in July, after a 5.6% gain in June. The mortgage interest cost index has decelerated on a year-over-year basis since September 2023.

The Bank of Canada’s two preferred core inflation measures accelerated slightly, averaging 3.05%, up from 3% in May, and above economists’ median projection. Traders see the continued strength in core inflation as indicative of relatively robust household spending.

There’s also another critical sign of firmer price pressures: The share of components in the consumer price index basket that are rising by 3% or more — another key metric the central bank’s policymakers are watching closely — expanded to 40%, from 39.1% in June.

CPI excluding taxes eased to 2.3%, while CPI excluding shelter slowed to 1.2%. CPI excluding food and energy dropped to 2.5%, and CPI excluding eight volatile components and indirect taxes fell to 2.6%.

The breadth of inflation is also rising. The share of components with the consumer price index basket that are increasing 3% and higher — another key metric that the bank’s policymakers are following closely  — fell to 37.3%, from 39.1% in June.

Bottom Line

With today’s CPI painting a mixed picture, the following inflation report becomes more critical for the Governing Council. The August CPI will be released the day before the September 17 meeting of the central bank. There is also another employment report released on September 5.

Traders see roughly 84% odds of a Federal Reserve rate cut when they meet again on Sept 17–the same day as Canada. Currently, the odds of a rate cut by the BoC stand at 34%. Unless the August inflation report shows an improvement in core inflation, the Bank will remain on the sidelines.

Dr. Sherry Cooper
Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres
drsherrycooper@dominionlending.ca