OTTAWA, January 24, 2005 -- The Bank of Canada's Monetary Policy Report Update will be released on Thursday, 27 January 2005. 7:30 a.m. Lock-up: Journalists are invited to review the Monetary Policy Report Update under the usual conditions of a lock-up, at the Bank's head office in Ottawa, and at the regional offices in Toronto and Montréal. 9 a.m. Media briefing session: Senior Bank officers will provide background information and answer questions on the contents of the Update during the lock-up. Reporters in Toronto and Montréal will be linked to the briefing by video conference. Information gathered at the session may be used freely in news reports and commentaries, provided it is not attributed to the Bank or its officers. Electronic recording is not permitted. Note: The briefing session will take place during the lock-up. For security reasons, those wishing to attend must confirm by calling Sandra Séguin at (613) 782-7595 before noon on Wednesday, 26 January. (Please use the East Tower entrance and be sure to have your press card with you.) 10:30 a.m. End of lock-up and embargo lifted. The Monetary Policy Report Update will be distributed as follows: in the lobbies of the East and West towers of the Bank's head office at the Parliamentary Press Gallery (Room 350-N, Centre Block, and Room 607, Wellington Building) at the Bank's regional offices in Halifax, Montréal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver on the Bank's Web site at http://www.bankofcanada.ca 11:15 a.m. News conference: The Governor of the Bank of Canada, David Dodge, will hold a news conference to discuss the contents of the Update at the Press Theatre, National Press Building, 150 Wellington Street, Ottawa. He will be accompanied by Senior Deputy Governor Paul Jenkins. NOTE: Audio Webcasts of the news conference will be available. To listen to the Webcast, you will need to have a recent version of RealPlayer or Windows Media Player installed on your computer. The Webcast will be accessible from this location: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/real/index.html - 30 - For further information: Annie Portelance Tel.: (613) 782-8782 E-mail: portelance@bankofcanada.ca
