OTTAWA - Economists widely expect the Bank of Canada will hold its benchmark interest rate steady this week and move to the sidelines to cap off a year dominated by trade and economic uncertainty.

The central bank's policy rate stands at 2.25 per cent heading into its final rate decision of the year on Wednesday — a full point lower than where it started 2025.

As of Friday afternoon, financial markets placed odds of nearly 93 per cent in favour of a rate hold at this week's meeting, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

A series of surprisingly strong job reports from Statistics Canada and an unexpected annualized jump of 2.6 per cent in real GDP for the third quarter solidified most economists' calls for a hold to end the year.

"Pulling these strands together, there is now no doubt the

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