A seventh straight hold — so what actually decides a Toronto file
Seven consecutive holds. Prime has been 4.45% since the last cut in October 2025. The Bank pointed to inflation hovering near 3% on persistently high gasoline prices, and to tariffs and counter-measures making the growth outlook harder to read.
It is worth being precise about the size of the thing people are waiting for. A quarter-point change moves a payment by roughly $14 a month for every $100,000 borrowed on a 25-year amortization — about $110 a month on the $800,000 that a typical GTA purchase carries with 20% down. Real money, and still not what decides whether a file gets approved. Run your own numbers on the calculator and look at what lenders are actually offering today rather than planning around a cut that has not arrived.
July was the most recent month reported: 5,995 sales, an average sale price of $1,003,956, 26,098 active listings and about 4.6 months of supply. Prices are modestly below where they were a year ago and inventory remains high — a market where a buyer can negotiate, take a financing condition, and not be rushed.
So what does decide a Toronto file? Which side of the $1.5 million insured cap you are on, because that is the difference between roughly $125,000 down and $300,000 down plus a narrower lender set. Whether you are buying a condo or a freehold, which at this point are two different markets. How a lender treats your income if you are self-employed, new to Canada, or counting on rent from a suite. Those are the things worth working on, and every one of them is inside your control in a way the overnight rate is not.
What the Bank said
“The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 2.25%, with the Bank Rate at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.20%. With the economy and inflation evolving broadly as forecast in the July MPR, Governing Council agreed to leave the policy rate unchanged.”
The rate path around this decision
For context, unemployment was running at about 6.4% and inflation at 3% 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.