Bank of Canada Rate Announcement Dates 2026: Schedule and Decisions

The Bank of Canada sets its policy interest rate on eight fixed dates each year and publishes each decision at 9:45 a.m. Eastern time. This page lists those dates, marks the four that come with a Monetary Policy Report, and records each decision made so far. It is part of the site’s Canadian interest rate guides.

The next scheduled announcement is October 28, 2026. The policy rate today is 2.25%; the current Bank of Canada interest rate page explains it and the rates that follow it.

2026 rate announcement schedule

Source: Bank of Canada, key interest rate schedule.

Four times a year the decision comes with the Monetary Policy Report, the Bank’s projection for inflation and growth and its assessment of the risks. The press release on the other four dates still explains the decision.

2027 dates

The Bank has also published next year’s schedule:

The Bank can also move the rate between scheduled dates in special circumstances, as it did on March 13, 2020, and March 27, 2020.

2026 decisions so far

Source: Bank of Canada, target for the overnight rate (Valet series V39079) and the September 2 press release. The last change before these holds was the cut announced on October 29, 2025; every earlier change is in the Bank of Canada rate history.

What happens on announcement day

At 9:45 a.m. Eastern time the Bank publishes the decision and a press release explaining it on bankofcanada.ca, together with the Monetary Policy Report on the four report dates. Markets often price in the expected decision beforehand, so bond yields, and with them fixed mortgage rates, can move on what the Bank says about the future as much as on the decision itself.

When the policy rate changes, the large banks usually change their prime rates to match; the Canada prime rate page tracks the result. Savings account rates and new GIC rates adjust on each institution’s own timetable, which the page on how rate changes affect savings describes. How a decision reaches variable and fixed mortgages is covered in the Bank of Canada policy rate guide. Forecasts of the next decisions, each with its date and author, are on the interest rate forecast page.

Related pages

• Current Bank of Canada interest rate
• Bank of Canada rate history
• Canada prime rate
• How rate changes affect savings, GICs and bonds
• Savings account rates by institution and GIC rates