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OTTAWA — Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz wants Canadians to get used to the idea of three per cent interest rates as the new normal, now that the era of rock-bottom borrowing costs is gradually fading away.

Poloz raised the benchmark rate last week for the fifth time in just over a year to 1.75 per cent — its highest level in about a decade.

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He sent signals that future hikes could arrive sooner than previously expected, in large part due to the economy’s resilience and the removal of some business uncertainty following the recent agreement on an updated North American trade pact.

Testifying before MPs on Tuesday in Ottawa, Poloz said many adults are used to the lower rates and are too young to remember the much-higher rates of the 1980s, when they climbed into the teens.