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Big Six Banks Raise Fixed Mortgage Rates: What Your Renewal Costs Now

  Canadian Money Brief • Mortgages Updated Saturday, October 17, 2026 If your mortgage term ends this winter, the rate you saw advertised in August is probably gone. All six of Canada’s big banks have raised fixed rates since early September, and the Bank of Canada hasn’t touched its policy rate in almost a year. That disconnect catches a lot of homeowners off guard. Your fixed mortgage rate doesn’t follow the Bank of Canada. It follows the bond market. And bond yields have been climbing on oil-driven inflation worries, which means the people feeling it first right now are the ones opening a renewal letter. The numbers at a glance Up to 0.50 pt in fixed-rate increases at the big banks in about five weeks • BoC policy rate still 2.25% • Big bank prime still 4.45% • About $110 a month more on a $400,000 balance from a half-point jump How far have the big banks moved? Depending on the term, some big bank fixed rates are up by as much as half a percentage point in roughly five week...

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Gaza’s Hunger Crisis: A Dire Struggle for Survival

 

In the heart of northern Gaza, a humanitarian crisis unfolds as the cost of basic necessities skyrockets, leaving many families in a relentless battle against hunger. The once sporadic echoes of conflict have been replaced by the constant growl of empty stomachs, with the World Food Program issuing stark warnings of an imminent famine.

  • Devastating Toll: The war has claimed lives, but hunger now looms as a silent killer, taking the lives of 15 children and infants, unable to be nourished as their mothers struggle to find food.
  • Dire Statistics: A staggering 1.1 million Gazans face “catastrophic” hunger levels, representing half of the population in the strip, a situation described as unprecedented by the WFP’s chief economist.
  • Fragile Relief: Recent efforts have seen a slight improvement, with Israel allowing more food supplies into Gaza. However, this has merely shifted the crisis from a lack of food to a lack of affordable food, with prices still several times higher than pre-war levels.
  • Visible Suffering: The signs of malnutrition are unmistakable, with thin bodies, hair loss, and pale complexions. For many, famine is not a looming threat but a present reality, as evidenced by the increasing number of premature births and maternal deaths during labor.

As the international community scrambles to address this crisis, the people of Gaza continue to endure the unyielding grip of hunger, hoping for a future where the melody of peace drowns out the cries of starvation.


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