The Bank of Canada surprised few this week by keeping its prime rate at 3.00% for the fifth consecutive meeting.

Today's news is yet another positive for variable-rate mortgage holders.

The Bank of Canada’s statement did have some mixed signals, however few analysts are considering that will mean a May rate increase.

Here is some of what the Bank had to say:

"The persistent strength of the Canadian dollar could create even greater headwinds for the Canadian economy, putting additional downward pressure on inflation"
"...recent economic activity in Canada has been stronger than the Bank had anticipated"
"Overall, the Bank projects that the economy will expand by 2.9 per cent in 2011."
"...the global economic recovery is becoming more firmly entrenched"
"...global financial conditions remain very stimulative and investors have become noticeably less risk averse."
"The Bank expects that the economy will return to capacity in the middle of 2012"