Tag: overnight rate

News: Interest rate cut in US, Canada stays the course

RobH1 Comment

The Bank of Canada and the US Federal Reserve both had their last rate setting meeting of 2025 today. These meetings are of interest to the DIY investor because they set the bar for the interest rate paid on short term loans / high interest savings accounts. I track a universe of HISAs and ETFs of interest over at https://moneyengineer.ca/hisa-and-short-term-bond-table-canada-us/.

The Bank of Canada announcement is here, and the US Fed announcement is here. The Bank of Canada kept things the same, with a rate of 2.25% while the US cut their rates by a quarter point, so they’re now sitting in a range of 3.5-3.75%. Anyway, the gap between the US and Canadian rates is narrowing, but the US overnight rates are still 1.5% higher (aka 150 basis points) and so it pays to use USD money market funds and HISAs if you’re able.

The next opportunity for the banks to mess with interest rates is January 28, 2026.

HISA and HISA-like ETF Table for October 2025

RobH1 Comment

HISAs are “High Interest Savings Accounts” and offer a nearly zero risk, highly liquid way to earn some interest on your cash holdings. If your broker doesn’t give you access to HISAs (or you have to pay large transaction fees to acquire them), then there’s also ETFs that fit the bill, and some of them are now in this table, too.

Since there’s no central bank meetings until the very end of this month, most of the September 2025 version of this table applies. The exception are the ETFs, which publish new yields monthly, so those figures are updated in the table below:

ProviderFundLinkRate SheetRate
RBCRBF2011, RBF2021, RBF2031, RBF2041RBCLink2.30%
ScotiabankDYN6004, DYN5004, DYN3065, DYN3055, DYN3075ScotiabankLink2.45%
Equitable BankEQB1001, ETR1001Equitable Bankn/a2.30%
TDTDB8151, TDB8156, TDB8158, TDB8160TDn/a2.30%
RenaissanceATL5071Renaissancen/a2.30%
Home TrustHOM101,
HOM201		Home TrustLink2.40%
B2BBTB101B2B Bankn/a2.40%
ManulifeMIP610, MIP810Manulifen/a2.15%
National BankNBC200, NBC6200, NBC8200NBI Altamira CashPerformern/a2.30%
Global XCASHCASH Fact Sheetn/a2.39%1
EvolveHISAHISA Fact Sheetn/a2.39%2
BMOZMMKZMMK Fact Sheetn/a2.76%3
Canadian HISA and HISA-like ETF rates, last updated October 3 2025

ZMMK is a very short-term bond fund that carries more risk than a HISA, but gives a slightly better return as a result. ZMMK appears in my ETF All-Stars list.

Since I hold a substantial amount of USD-denominated ETFs, I also track US interest rates.

ProviderFundLinkRate SheetRate
RBCRBF2015RBCLink3.90%
ScotiabankDYN6005,
DYN5005		ScotiabankLink3.90%
Equitable BankEQB1101,
ETR1101		Equitable Bankn/a3.80%
TDTDB8153TDn/a3.90%
RenaissanceATL5075Renaissancen/a3.90%
ManulifeMIP611Manulifen/a3.05%
National BankNBC201NBI Altamira CashPerformern/a3.90%
Global XUCSHUCSH Fact Sheetn/a3.96%4
EvolveHISUHISU Fact Sheetn/a3.96%5
iSharesICSHICSH Fact Sheetn/a4.48%6
USA HISA and HISA-like ETF rates, last updated October 3, 2025

UCSH and HISU invest in HISAs exclusively; I instead use ICSH which is a rough equivalent of ZMMK in terms of portfolio makeup. Like ZMMK, I enjoy a slight premium in yield as a reward for taking a bit more risk.

  1. September 29 distribution ↩︎
  2. September 25 distribution ↩︎
  3. September 29 distribution ↩︎
  4. September 29 distribution ↩︎
  5. September 25 distribution ↩︎
  6. October 1 distribution ↩︎

News: Canada and US both lower prime rate

RobH2 Comments

To the surprise of no one, both the Bank of Canada and the US Federal Reserve lowered their headline interest rate by 1/4 of a % (that’s 25 basis points if you want to be fancy about it).

Official statement from BoC sets the policy rate at 2.5%, down from 2.75%.

Official statement from the US Fed lowers the “target range for the federal funds rate by 1/4 of point”, which puts the range between 4.0% and 4.25%1

Anyway, to the DIY investor, this will no doubt lower the rates available by the HISA providers, last captured here. A quick spot check shows no change yet2, but that won’t last, I predict. The rates have now been lowered and I’ve updated the September table accordingly. The next meetings for these orgs happens at the end of October, so this means stability for the next 6 weeks on the interest rate front.

  1. why is it range? I have no idea. ↩︎
  2. insert joke about “banker’s hours” here ↩︎

HISA and HISA-like ETF Table for September 2025

RobH3 Comments

HISAs, for those in the know1, are “High Interest Savings Accounts” and offer a nearly zero risk, highly liquid2, way to earn some interest on your cash holdings. If your broker doesn’t give you access to HISAs (or you have to pay large transaction fees to acquire them3), then there’s also ETFs that fit the bill, and some of them are now in this table, too.

ProviderFundLinkRate SheetRate
RBCRBF2011, RBF2021, RBF2031, RBF2041RBCLink2.30%
ScotiabankDYN6004, DYN5004, DYN3065, DYN3055, DYN3075ScotiabankLink2.45%
Equitable BankEQB1001, ETR1001Equitable Bankn/a2.30%
TDTDB8151, TDB8156, TDB8158, TDB8160TDn/a2.30%
RenaissanceATL5071Renaissancen/a2.30%
Home TrustHOM101,
HOM201		Home TrustLink2.40%
B2BBTB101B2B Bankn/a2.40%
ManulifeMIP610, MIP810Manulifen/a2.15%
National BankNBC200, NBC6200, NBC8200NBI Altamira CashPerformern/a2.30%
Global XCASHCASH Fact Sheetn/a2.55%4
EvolveHISAHISA Fact Sheetn/a2.45%5
BMOZMMKZMMK Fact Sheetn/a2.76%6
Canadian HISA and HISA-like ETF rates, last updated September 24, 2025

As both Canada and the US lowered their policy rates last week, the interest rates you see here are lower than what you could get last month7. US rates remain quite a bit higher than Canadian rates, which I took advantage of recently.

CASH and HISA are ETFs that hold HISAs; I’d expect their rates to drift lower next month. ZMMK is a very short-term bond fund that carries more risk than a HISA, but gives a slightly better return as a result. ZMMK appears in my ETF All-Stars list.

Since I hold a substantial amount of USD-denominated ETFs, I also track US interest rates.

ProviderFundLinkRate SheetRate
RBCRBF2015RBCLink3.90%
ScotiabankDYN6005,
DYN5005		ScotiabankLink3.90%
Equitable BankEQB1101,
ETR1101		Equitable Bankn/a3.80%
TDTDB8153TDn/a3.90%
RenaissanceATL5075Renaissancen/a3.90%
ManulifeMIP611Manulifen/a3.05%
National BankNBC201NBI Altamira CashPerformern/a3.90%
Global XUCSHUCSH Fact Sheetn/a4.18%8
EvolveHISUHISU Fact Sheetn/a3.99%9
iSharesICSHICSH Fact Sheetn/a4.53%10
USA HISA and HISA-like ETF rates, last updated September 24, 2025

UCSH and HISU invest in HISAs exclusively; I instead use ICSH which is a rough equivalent of ZMMK in terms of portfolio makeup. Like ZMMK, I enjoy a slight premium in yield as a reward for taking a bit more risk.

  1. You can read an intro over at Earn money with your cash: The HISA table February 2025 ↩︎
  2. I don’t like GICs for this reason. And they tend to not be very portable between brokers, either. ↩︎
  3. For example, Questrade, my current go-to broker. ↩︎
  4. As of August 29 distribution. ↩︎
  5. As of August 27 distribution ↩︎
  6. As of August 28 distribution ↩︎
  7. Except for the ETFs I track…they are a bit more volatile month to month, which makes sense given what they hold. ↩︎
  8. As of August 29 distribution ↩︎
  9. As of August 27 distribution ↩︎
  10. As of September 2 distribution ↩︎