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BoC Opens the Door to Rate Hikes: What It Means for Your Mortgage

  Published September 4, 2026 The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25% on September 2 — the seventh straight hold — but Governor Tiff Macklem didn't sound like a central banker done for the year. He told reporters the Bank is "prepared to raise interest rates, and if it takes more than one increase, we're prepared to do that," if inflation stays too high. That's a real shift in tone, and it lands right as a wave of Canadians hit their mortgage renewal date. Here's what changed, who's forecasting what, and what it actually means for your payment. Why the Bank Suddenly Sounds Hawkish Canada's annual inflation rate has climbed to around 3% — a full point above the Bank's 2% target — and the Bank is pointing squarely at energy prices. Oil has stayed elevated because of the Iran conflict and disruption near the Strait of Hormuz, pushing gas prices up and dragging headline CPI with it. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, is still s...
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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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