Canada Draws Investor Ire Over Holiday Inflation Release

Shoppers in Toronto.

Photographer: Adetona Omokanye/Bloomberg

Canada’s central statistics agency plans to publish a major inflation print while the country’s financial markets are closed next month — a move economists warn will distort trading and give foreign investors an edge.

Statistics Canada will next update the consumer price index on Feb. 16, a day when eight of the country’s 10 provinces have a statutory holiday and equity and bond markets are closed. But it’s a regular workday for federal employees, including those at the agency.