Marcus Okafor
Verified WriterMarkets & Economics Correspondent
Translates Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada policy into actionable insight for North American operators.
Biography
Marcus Okafor writes the Markets & Economics desk at Vanhub News. He focuses on how monetary policy, inflation, and labour markets ripple into the day-to-day decisions of operators, founders, and homebuyers. Before Vanhub, Marcus was a fixed-income analyst at a Calgary-based asset manager, modelling provincial bond spreads and corporate credit.
His coverage emphasizes mechanics over narrative — readers will find rate-curve diagrams, mortgage stress-test math, and CPI breakdowns rather than vibes. He believes financial journalism is most useful when it equips readers to act, not panic.
Marcus holds an M.Sc. in Financial Engineering from McGill and is a CFA charterholder.
Latest stories by Marcus Okafor
$39 Billion in One Quarter: Canada's GIC Exodus Is Just Starting
Canadians pulled back on GICs at the fastest pace in four years while pouring $39.3B into mutual funds. The rate math — and the tax math — explain why this isn't reversing soon.
$500 Billion Locked In, $7 Billion Coming Out: Canada's GIC Reckoning
Canadians stuffed nearly half a trillion dollars into GICs when rates hit 5%. Now the Bank of Canada has cut nine times and the exit is underway — here's where the money is actually going.
BC Fintech's AI Advice Tripwire Already Fired — December 2024
CSA Staff Notice 11-348 confirmed existing securities law governs AI advisory tools. BC fintech founders shipping LLM features may be running unregistered portfolio managers right now.
$200,000 Down Payment From Registered Accounts — But Read the Math
A Vancouver couple can stack FHSA, RRSP, and TFSA to hit a 20% down payment in 2026. Here's what the tax benefit actually costs Ottawa — and who it actually helps.
0.6876: The Currency Rate Quietly Repricing Vancouver Real Estate
The CAD's structural slide to multi-decade lows is handing USD buyers a $570K discount on Vancouver detached homes — while making new supply economically irrational to build.
7 Months or 36? The AI Payback Gap Banks Won't Admit
JPMorgan's $2B AI savings headline is real but misleading. Here's what Canadian CFOs must calculate before OSFI E-23 forces the issue in 2027.
BC's Double Flipping Tax Just Broke the 12-Month Flip Math
Ottawa cancelled the capital gains hike, but BC investors now face a 20% provincial flipping tax that CRA won't let you deduct federally. Here's what that actually costs.
$8B, 26 Deals, and a Recycling Problem Nobody Names
Canada's 2025 VC market looks healthy until you strip out the megadeals. Here's what the CVCA's numbers actually reveal about the two-tier system forming beneath the headline.
40 Basis Points and a Policy Loophole: The Real 2026 Refinance Math
980,000 fixed-rate mortgages renew in 2026. The variable-vs-fixed spread is thinner than brokers admit—and a quiet OSFI rule change matters more than either rate.