07:30 AM EST, 03/03/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian growth Friday clocked in at a stronger-than-expected 2.6% a.r. in Q4, with the best non-pandemic domestic demand performance since 2017, and Bank of Montreal (BMO) said it revised up its 2025 growth call by a tick to 1.8%.

On the United States tariff front, the bank continues to wait. The latest word is that this Tuesday's timeline for wide-ranging tariffs on Canada and Mexico remains in place, and that will certainly have the market's attention into Tuesday.

The Canadian dollar (CAD or loonie) starts Monday at 69.3 US cents ($1.444/USD) in what could be a choppy next 24 hours, pointed out BMO.

Auto sales will be released for February later Tuesday and have come into 2025 hot, stated the bank. As of January, seasonally adjusted sales were running more than 30% above the 2022 low and up 3.1% from a year ago. Generally firmer consumer spending conditions -- lower borrowing costs and rising real wages -- have helped.

The February employment report (LFS) on Friday is the key piece of data to watch. BMO is looking for a "modest" 10,000 job gain in the month. The combination of payback from the prior strength, U.S. tariff threats and extreme winter weather likely weighed on hiring and could also limit labor force growth. Accordingly, despite the small anticipated headline increase, the unemployment rate is expected to move up only one tick to 6.7%.

Investors will also get productivity data for Q4 on Wednesday and merchandise trade for January on Thursday. The latter could get interesting as some firms move to front-run any potential tariffs.

The province of British Columbia will table its FY25/26 budget on Tuesday, added the bank. The NDP platform called for wider deficits on the back of a number of spending priorities, but there's a sense that the appetite has been dialed back a few notches.

That comes as British Columbia's credit has been losing its lustre amid larger and persistent deficits, as well as chunky borrowing, according to BMO. The provinces are also taking a very mixed approach to the treatment of tariff risk -- some are building in partial tariff action while others are adding explicit forecast allowances and some will publish alternate fiscal scenarios this season.