The highlight of Monday’s economic theatre was the Bank of Canada’s expectations surveys, which could have been better (more on that below).

Meanwhile, down in Washington, Federal Reserve officials are still wandering the policy wilderness without a data compass, thanks to day twenty of the government shutdown.

Monday's highly anticipated Bank of Canada inflation surveys came with two revelations:

1. Businesses have quietly surrendered pricing power to weak demand, despite relentless input costs. (Rate friendly)
2. Consumers are still bracing for tariff-fuelled price hikes. (Rate unfriendly)

Here’s a look at the reports' surprises and how they could ripple through to mortgage rates.

Eight years ago, HomeEquity Bank had Canada's reverse mortgage field pretty much to itself.

Today, the stage is getting more crowded with hungry rivals that include Equitable Bank, Bloom Finance, Fraction, and—as of this morning—Home Trust. The latter has officially launched "EquityAccess."

Like hawks at a bingo hall, all five of these players are eyeing the same aging demographic. To see if Home Trust brings more than enthusiasm and marketing brochures, we spoke to its VP of Mortgage Products, Nader Gorgi, for details.

Markets ended last week acting like they’d just read two different scripts—one bullish, one dovish, and both missing a few pages.

Nesto Group, the VC-backed mortgage fintech with $73 billion of mortgages under administration, has taken a 20% stake in alternative lender Maple Financial.

The investment was made through CMLS, nesto's lender subsidiary. The two companies call it a "technology-driven partnership designed to accelerate product development [and] expand distribution" to mortgage brokers. Under the hood, it’s essentially a private-label setup whereby CMLS does a lot of the back-end work for Maple's originations.

Three things make this alliance worth keeping an eye on:

Two powerhouses in the world of MIEs (mortgage investment entities) are joining forces.

Neighbourhood Holdings has acquired Fisgard Asset Management, forming one of the largest non-federally regulated private alternative lenders in the country. The deal closed Friday with the combined firm now managing roughly three-quarters of a billion dollars in mortgages.

Here's a practical look at why mortgage brokers, investors and non-prime borrowers should care.

It was shades of 2023 as regional U.S. banks came under scrutiny again. That, plus dovish central bank chatter and soft macro data, led rates onto the down escalator Thursday. And by Friday morning, yields were still slipping.