Bank of Canada

The Governing Council, chaired by Governor Tiff Macklem and including Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers alongside Deputy Governors, makes monetary policy decisions. The Council meets eight times annually to set the policy interest rate and determine balance sheet operations. Since 2022, the Bank has published summary deliberations from these meetings to increase transparency.

No. The Bank of Canada's asset holdings are instruments of monetary policy, not wealth management. Its balance sheet is dominated by Government of Canada bonds acquired to influence interest rates and market liquidity. The Exchange Fund Account, which it manages for the government, holds foreign currency reserves for currency intervention and liquidity purposes, not long-term return maximization.

The balance sheet expanded sharply from approximately C$120 billion in early 2020 to a peak around C$575 billion in 2021. This expansion reflected large-scale asset purchases through the Government Bond Purchase Program, Canada Mortgage Bond purchases, and other liquidity facilities. The Bank began quantitative tightening in April 2022, allowing assets to mature without reinvestment to gradually shrink the balance sheet.

The Bank is a Crown corporation wholly owned by the government but operates with operational independence in monetary policy. The Minister of Finance can issue directives in extraordinary circumstances, though this power has never been used. The Bank acts as fiscal agent, managing government debt issuance, foreign exchange reserves, and payment systems.

Canada's official foreign reserves held in the Exchange Fund Account are invested in high-quality, liquid sovereign and agency bonds. Holdings are concentrated in US dollars, euros, British pounds, and Japanese yen. The portfolio is managed for liquidity and capital preservation, supporting potential intervention to promote orderly currency market conditions.