One mortgage broker says the latest rate cut by the Bank of Canada will benefit homeowners with variable mortgages, but the economic impact of U.S. tariffs could fuel mortgage competition among lenders, weighing on home prices in Ontario.

The Bank of Canada lowered its key policy rate by 25 basis points Wednesday to 2.75 per cent, marking the seventh consecutive cut, with Governor Tiff Macklem saying signs of momentum in Canada’s economy are facing risks from a trade war with the U.S. Ron Butler, a mortgage broker at Butler Mortgage, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Wednesday that major Canadian banks are expected to lower prime rates by tomorrow. Before the end of the month, he said the lower rates will be reflected in variable mortgage rates with some seeing lower payments, but all seeing lower interest rates.

With variable rates moving lower, Butler said those deciding to between variable and fixed products should consider their employment situation.

A provincial watchdog is warning that the glacial pace of Ontario’s overwhelmed landlord-tenant dispute system is denying justice to thousands of people — causing many to take desperate measures.

“Then you get self-help,” Kathy Laird, a Tribunal Watch Ontario committee member, told the Star. “Tenants who can’t get repairs done on their building might stop paying rent. Landlords who can’t get their tenants out might start taking other steps to get a tenant out illegally. Those things happen more than they used to.”

As rent prices climb and landlord/tenant disputes grow increasingly hostile, a largely provincial domain issue has spilled into the federal election campaign.

The NDP said this week they would implement national rent control if elected.

The party said it would also introduce a Renter’s Bill of Rights, and tie federal housing funding to rent control, tenant protections, and acting against “exploitive” landlords.

Canadians are eagerly waiting to see whether the Bank of Canada (BoC) will cut its lending rate again at its upcoming April 16 announcement.

In March, Canada’s central bank cut its lending rate by 25 basis points, bringing the rate down to 2.75%. The cut was the BoC’s second rate reduction this year, as it also cut its lending rate by 25 basis points in January.

So, will there be a third consecutive cut in 2025? According to TD Director of Economics James Orlando, the BoC could go either way and announce a rate cut or a rate hold.

Lee said that, after weeks of President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on Canadian exports, consumer confidence is already taking a hit.

He said fears about job insecurity tied to tariffs are likely filtering into the housing market, chilling investment demand and limiting hopes for a rebound this spring.

“We still have a bit of a slow market despite the fact that interest rates are coming down and we would expect that’ll continue to worsen as the trade war continues, if it does,” Lee said.

Canada has responded to Trump’s trade salvos with retaliatory tariffs targeting $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, with billions more in counter-tariffs set to follow in three weeks.

Two of Canada’s largest banks say interest rates could fall faster and ultimately end up lower than previously predicted, as the consequences of a trade war with the U.S. are set to ripple through the Canadian economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian imports, with a carveout for energy products that will be taxed at 10 per cent, came into effect as of 12:01 EST Tuesday.

It triggered chaos in global financial markets and caused Bank of Montreal to revise its economic and interest rate forecast, saying it expects at least twice as many interest rate cuts from the Bank of Canada this year compared to previous estimates.

“We now look for the quarter-point pace to continue in each of the next four meetings until July, taking the rate to two per cent,” wrote Douglas Porter, the bank’s chief economist and managing director of economics, in a BMO Economics note published Tuesday.

“The net risk is that we eventually go even lower, if the (Bank of Canada) is comfortable with the prevailing inflation backdrop later this year.”

The grand expansion of Hamilton’s John C. Munro airport is underway, with operators TradePort International announcing plans this month for upgrades and enhancements of the terminal facilities, as well as introducing daily flight from new partner, Porter Airlines.

The City of Hamilton and TradePort International signed off on a $400 million, 49-year agreement in September to develop and expand the airport over the next 50 years, a deal that has already started to pay dividends.

Upgrades happening include a terminal interior spruce up from check-in to baggage claim and enhancements to the exterior frontage.

Future improvements will better connect the terminal to the planes with new passenger bridges, as well as other infrastructure enhancements.