The last cut — prime settles at 4.45%
A second consecutive quarter-point cut takes prime to 4.45%. From the 7.2% peak in 2023, prime has now fallen 2.75 points — on an $800,000 mortgage that is well over $1,500 a month against where payments sat at the top.
This is where the cutting stopped, although nobody knew it at the time. If you are reading this later while deciding whether to wait for another one: the Bank held at this level for the seven decisions that followed.
Which is the argument for not building a plan around the next cut. A quarter point on a Toronto-sized mortgage is roughly $110 a month. Useful, but it is not what decides whether you can buy — and waiting a year for it while prices move is a bet that has gone badly for a lot of people. What actually determines the outcome of a GTA file is the down payment relative to the $1.5 million insured cap, how a lender reads your income, and what you negotiate on price.
September's market: 5,592 sales, an average of $1,059,377, and 4.6 months of supply with 29,394 active listings. Well-supplied, and still slowly loosening.
What the Bank said
“The Bank of Canada today reduced its target for the overnight rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%, with the Bank Rate at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.20%. With the effects of US trade actions on economic growth and inflation somewhat clearer, the Bank has returned to its usual practice of providing a projection for the global and Canadian economies in this Monetary Policy Report (MPR).”
The rate path around this decision
For context, unemployment was running at about 6.9% and inflation at 2.2% around this decision.
Where this leaves you
Rate announcements make headlines; approvals turn on your own numbers. If you're buying, renewing or refinancing in Toronto, the useful next step is finding out what you actually qualify for — see current rates, run the math, or start an application. You can also follow the local market in our Toronto housing market reports.