08:24 AM EDT, 10/30/2024 (MT Newswires) -- There are no major macroeconomic data releases on deck in Canada on Wednesday, noted Bank of Montreal (BMO).

The province of Ontario will kick off the fall fiscal update season with its Fall Economic Statement, said the bank. These mid-year reports are a venue for refreshed fiscal projections and new policy announcements.

Indeed, Ontario has already hinted at some headline-grabbing policy changes by announcing C$200 rebate checks for all Ontarians, costing around C$3 billion. As it is turning out, Ontario probably has some fiscal room to work with after the FY23/24 public accounts came in better than expected -- a smaller C$647 million deficit versus C$3.0 billion expected in the spring -- and the economy has held up better so far in FY24/25, stated BMO.

At the time of the 2024 budget, Ontario projected real gross domestic product growth of just 0.3%, but it's on track for 1.3% now, and nominal growth is also tracking a full percentage point stronger. While new policy measures might eat into it, there is probably underlying fiscal improvement versus the C$9.8 billion, or 0.9% of GDP, budget deficit projected in the spring, pointed out the bank.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers will appear before the Senate at 4:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Tuesday's statement to the House largely followed the line laid out last week after the BoC's 50bps rate cut.

Macklem said that "if the economy evolves broadly in line with our forecast, we anticipate cutting our policy rate further to support demand and keep inflation on target. The timing and pace of further interest rate cuts will depend on incoming information and our assessment of its implications for the inflation outlook. We will take our monetary policy decisions one at a time."

There also doesn't seem to be any pressing need by Canada's central bank to alter the outlook in the wake of last week's announced immigration target reductions, added Scotiabank.