BoC says it is pushing back on the date when it might start buying GoC bonds, and could start buying bonds in late 2027, but it might be 2028 as well

Central banks that have run down asset holdings after quantitative tightening have historically faced the same sequencing question: when reserve scarcity begins to show up in money markets, the balance sheet stops shrinking and eventually asset purchases resume to keep the system in ample reserves. Pushing the restart date further out signals that officials judge the settlement balance still comfortably above the scarce region, which is broadly consistent with orderly repo and funding conditions. The distinction worth drawing is between purchases as balance sheet maintenance, which are duration-neutral in intent even if not in effect, and purchases as easing, and communication of this sort has on past occasions been mistaken for the latter. What tends to matter next is money market behaviour around quarter-ends, any widening in funding spreads, and how the official framework paper or speeches formalise the estimates behind the new date. CAD reaction to balance sheet headlines of this kind has historically been second-order relative to rate guidance.