The ClearBridge Canadian Small Cap Strategy meaningfully outperformed its benchmark in the fourth quarter. Read more here.

Canada's main stock index posted its biggest decline in over three weeks on Friday as rising prospects that the Federal Reserve would pause its interest-rate cutting cycle encouraged investors to take some profits after strong gains for the market in 2024.

The Bank of Canada’s policy rate currently sits at 3.25 per cent, after two consecutive half point cuts in October and December of last year. The rate now sits at the upper band of the central bank’s neutral range, with economists predicting it will have more room to fall to below two per cent, if Trump follows through on his tariff threats.

The Canadian dollar, known as the loonie after the bird that graces it, got its wings clipped in 2024. Growing domestic political turmoil — Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he would step down as prime minister and leader of the Liberal party — and the threat of new tariffs from the incoming Trump administration will keep it caged in 2025.

The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as the greenback notched broad-based gains, but the loonie still notched a modest weekly advance as domestic jobs data cooled bets on a Bank of Canada rate cut this month.

Bank of Canada Needs Clearer Guidance When Deploying QE

Before you get too excited, it’s not because they believe the loonie is headed for a rebound. Quite the contrary, RBC expects the Canadian dollar to fade further to 68.96 cents U.S. by the second quarter as the gap between the two central banks widens. (It was trading at 69.33 cents U.S. this morning).

The bad news is that bond investors are looking aghast at genuine economic uncertainty. The good news is that the uncertainty is two-sided, and on one of those sides higher yields are a sign of a healthier economy.

As Trump is set to take office, he'll be inheriting a troublesome housing market where affordability continues to erode for millions of Americans.

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society is calling on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to force the federal government back to the negotiation table on First Nations child welfare reforms.