As widely expected, the Bank of Canada held the target for overnight rate at 0.25%, and reiterated its commitment to keep rates at their effective lower bound through the second quarter of 2010.  The Bank recognized that while the global economic landscape has been slightly more positive, there are a significant amount of ‘fragilities’ still out there; enough to justify keeping rates where they are.  More than likely, the Bank of Canada will stay put past its conditional commitment of June 2010 and the first rate hike will not come until the fourth quarter of next year.