Ontario Premier Doug Ford asks Bank of Canada to halt rate hikes

Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivers remarks at Lakeshore Collegiate Institute in Toronto, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Another provincial premier is making a direct appeal to the Bank of Canada to stop raising interest rates.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he wrote directly to the central bank's governor Tiff Macklem on Sunday because of the devastating impact current rates are having on the province's families and businesses.

He becomes the second premier to voice objections to further hikes after British Columbia Premier David Eby sent a similar letter to Macklem last Thursday.

The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate to five per cent in July, citing projections suggesting it will take longer for the national inflation rate to reach the bank's target of two per cent.

Ford's letter urges Macklem to "consider the effect higher interest rates are having on everyday people" before the bank announces its next interest rate decision on Wednesday.

It says the bank has raised its interest rates 10 times in the last 18 months and is costing families "thousands of dollars" more a month to cover their mortgage payments.

Ford's letter also says that Canada's banks are expecting a spike in defaults on loans and mortgages stemming directly from the rate hikes.

The letter goes on to say the federal government should work with provinces and territories to invest and build critical infrastructure projects rather than raising rates again.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 4, 2023.