The Bank of Canada announced that it will leave its key interest rate unchanged at 2.25% and restated its commitment to holding this rate steady until mid-2010, conditional on the outlook for inflation. In its statement the Bank declared that “recent indicators point to the start of recovery in major economies, supported by aggressive policy stimulus and the stabilization of global financial markets.”

Lenders are expected to keep their prime lending rate steady. Variable-rate mortgages, variable-rate credit cards, and home equity lines of credit are typically linked to a lender’s prime rate. However, in recent weeks the pricing of new variable-rate mortgages in relation to the prime rate has improved, especially in the case of 4-year and 5-year variable products. While pricing for fixed-rate mortgages is not directly affected by today’s announcement, rates on certain fixed products have been declining recently