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The Fed Just Hiked Rates. Here's What It Means for Your Canadian Mortgage.

  The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate 25 basis points yesterday — the first hike in three years. The Bank of Canada hasn't moved. That gap is now the biggest story in Canadian personal finance. MoneySavings.ca  |  September 17, 2026  |  Canadian Money Brief Yesterday afternoon, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to raise the U.S. federal funds rate by a quarter point, pushing it to a target range of 3.75%–4.00%. It's the Fed's first rate hike since July 2023, and Chair Kevin Warsh made clear it almost certainly won't be the last. The Bank of Canada, by contrast, has held its overnight rate at 2.25% through seven straight meetings. It doesn't decide again until October 28. For Canadians with a mortgage, a renewal coming up, or a home equity line of credit, this matters more than it might look at first glance. 3.75–4.00% New U.S. Fed Rate 2.25% Bank of Canada Rate 1.625% Rate Gap (vs. 1.375% yesterday) ~71.5¢ Loonie (post-hike low) What th...
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Greece Enacts Stricter Measures on Rejected Asylum Seekers Amid Rising Arrivals

Newly-arrived migrants line up inside a municipal hall in the town of Agyia, on the island of Crete, Greece, July 13, 2025.

Greece’s parliament has passed new legislation imposing tougher penalties on rejected asylum seekers and accelerating their return to home countries, in response to a recent surge in migrant arrivals at its southern borders.

Under the law, undocumented migrants arriving from countries deemed safe by the European Union — and found ineligible for asylum — must either return home voluntarily or face detention for at least 24 months, along with fines of up to €10,000. The measures follow an increase in arrivals from Libya via the islands of Crete and Gavdos, which prompted the government to temporarily suspend asylum applications for North African migrants earlier this year.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s conservative government has already expanded border fences and boosted sea patrols since taking office in 2019. Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told parliament that protecting national security outweighed the rights of individuals whose asylum claims had been rejected.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned that the law risks penalizing people in genuine need of protection and urged Greece to adopt fast-track asylum procedures to distinguish refugees from other migrants more efficiently.

Athens says it has already returned hundreds of irregular migrants since July and plans further repatriation flights to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt this month. However, human rights groups continue to accuse Greece of illegal pushbacks at its sea and land borders, allegations the government denies.


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