In the news today: Interest rate update, Alberta Next tour, and arts prizes awarded

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

BoC expected to cut key lending rate today

The Bank of Canada is set to announce its interest rate decision today, where it’s widely expected to lower its key lending rate.

A quarter-point cut would bring the central bank’s benchmark rate down to 2.5 per cent after three consecutive holds at 2.75 per cent. 

The bank received a last-minute look at the latest inflation data when Statistics Canada reported its consumer price index for August yesterday. 

The report showed consumer prices rose 1.9 per cent in August year-over-year, up from 1.7 per cent in July, though it was a tick below economists’ expectations. 

Alberta Next panel in Grande Prairie for town hall

Premier Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next panel is in Grande Prairie tonight to brainstorm potential referendum questions aimed at wrenching more political control from Ottawa.

The panel has been greeted by supportive crowds throughout its summer town hall tour around the province.

It has often been cheered on in its proposals, including withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan and withholding social services from some immigrants.

But some have called the tour cynical wedge politics, saying it employs questionable survey methods to craft a predetermined anti-Ottawa outcome.

Gazans denied visas without explanation: lawyer

When immigration lawyer Hana Marku opened her email weeks ago to a photo of an emaciated infant in the Gaza Strip, she said she felt helpless. 

The child is among about 50 Palestinians the Toronto-based lawyer is representing. She said each one was blocked without explanation from submitting applications under the temporary visa program the Canadian government created to help them flee the Israel-Hamas war.

“She’s a baby girl who was born last year, and she was born into this war,” Marku said. “An infant whose bones I can count just by looking at a photo of her.”

Marku said her clients in the Gaza Strip are facing death every day. One narrowly escaped being killed as he was bringing home flour after a bomb fell nearby, she said. Some have witnessed loved ones crushed by falling rubble.

Details in Dalhousie agreement expected today

Details are expected today regarding the agreement between Dalhousie University and its faculty association. 

The two groups released a joint statement yesterday confirming the nearly month-long labour disruption had come to an end. 

The university locked faculty out on Aug. 20, and the nearly 1,000 union members began their strike two days later. 

Key issues on the bargaining table have been wage increases and flexible class schedules. 

The university has said the faculty would return to work tomorrow if the agreement is ratified. 

Yves Jarvis wins Polaris prize for ‘All Cylinders’

Yves Jarvis has won the Polaris Music Prize for his album “All Cylinders.”

The fifth full-length record from the Montreal rock musician was selected for the $30,000 prize by an 11-member grand jury, which named it the best Canadian album of the year based on artistic merit.

He took the stage at Toronto’s Massey Hall to accept the cash award from host and 2019 winner Haviah Mighty.

“I was just honoured to be nominated at all — I’m shocked,” he said while clutching a vinyl copy of his winning album.

“I feel really blessed to be recognized in this way and be an ambassador for Canadian art.”

Writers’ Trust ups fiction prize money

The Writers’ Trust of Canada is deepening the purse for its fiction prize, increasing it to $100,000.

The organization says the winner of the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize would receive $70,000, up from $60,000, while the runners-up will receive $7,500 instead of $5,000.

The Writers’ Trust announced the change on Wednesday as it released this year’s short list for the prize, which is named for co-founders Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson and sponsored by the Balsillie Family Foundation.

This year’s finalists include the short story collections “Graveyard Shift at the Lemonade Stand” by Tim Bowling and “Simple Creatures” by Robert McGill.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2025