Grahame Johnson was named managing director of financial stability at the Bank of Canada in November 2019, just months before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and became adviser to the governor in 2021. The Bank of Canada responded to the economic effect of the pandemic by launching 10 liquidity facilities—nine of them never attempted before—to repurchase securities such as government and corporate bonds, bank acceptances, and commercial paper. The measures were largely successful, and nine of the 10 facilities were unwound by 2022. The tenth, the Government of Canada Bond Purchase Program (GBPP), transitioned into a quantitative easing program and remains in operation as a monetary policy tool. This Lesson Learned is based on an interview held in April 2023.
Mercedes Cardona (Thu,) studied this question.