Bank of Canada
The
Bank of Canada is the country's central
bank. Its role, as defined in the
original Bank of Canada Act of 1934, is
"to promote the economic and financial
welfare of Canada." The Bank of Canada
is not a commercial institution. It does
not provide regular banking services,
nor does it accept deposits from the
general public. Its clientele are the
federal government, other central banks,
commercial banks and certain other
financial institutions.
The
Bank was founded in 1934 as a privately
owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank
became a Crown corporation belonging to
the federal government. Since that time,
the Minister of Finance has held the
entire share capital issued by the Bank.
The Bank has considerable autonomy to
carry out its responsibilities.
The
Bank of Canada was created to be the
sole issuer of bank notes and to
facilitate management of the country's
financial system. Having an independent
monetary institution allows for the
separation of the power to spend money
from the power to create money.
Separating the central bank from the
political process enables it to adopt
the medium- and long-term perspectives
essential to conducting effective
monetary policy.
What does the Bank do?
The Bank of Canada is
responsible for:
-
Monetary Policy
The goal of monetary policy is to
contribute to solid economic
performance and rising living
standards for Canadians by keeping
inflation low, stable, and
predictable.
-
Bank Notes
The Bank issues Canada's bank notes
and is responsible for their design
(and anti-counterfeiting features),
distribution, and replacement.
-
Financial System
The Bank actively promotes safe,
sound, and efficient financial
system, both within Canada and
internationally.
-
Funds Management
The Bank of Canada provides
high-quality, effective, and
efficient funds-management services
for the government, the Bank and
other clients.
-
Retail Debt Services
Under its retail debt program, the
government issues Canada Savings
Bonds and Canada Premium Bonds. The
Bank is responsible for providing
support and advice for this program.
The
Bank of Canada web page contains a
wealth of information concerning
historical Canadian mortgage rates.
