In those days, various interest rates were linked to the "official discount rate" and changes in the "official discount rate" directly affected deposit and lending rates. A change in the "official discount rate" was considered to constitute a change in the basic stance of monetary policy and thus to have a so-called "announcement effect."
On 1 January 1855, the logging community of Bytown was formally incorporated as a city and adopted Ottawa as its new name. This year is also the 70th anniversary of the Bank of Canada. The Bank opened its doors on 11 March 1935. Both the City of Ottawa and the Bank of Canada have evolved and grown since their early days.