On Wednesday the Bank of Canada reduced its target for the overnight rate to three percent, with the Bank Rate at 3.25 percent and the deposit rate at 2.95 percent.

The Bank added that there was more uncertainty than normal in the January Monetary Policy Report because of the rapidly evolving policy landscape, particularly the threat of trade tariffs by the new administration in the United States. 

The scope and duration of a possible trade conflict are impossible to predict.

As a result, several of Canada’s large banks decreased their prime lending rate.