For the second time in several months, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has urged the Bank of Canada to halt any further increases in interest rates, saying that millions of Canadians "are struggling to cover their expenses."

Ford said in a message to Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem during a post on X, formerly Twitter, today, "There is simply no excuse for increasing the already overwhelming pressure that previous interest rate increases have put on many families and businesses."

Ford's message comes ahead of the central bank's upcoming interest rate announcement on Wednesday, where the key interest rate is expected to remain at five percent - the highest level since 2001.

The Bank of Canada has raised the key interest rate 10 times since March 2022 in an attempt to cool economic activity and reduce inflation to its target of 2 percent.

In its last interest rate announcement on September 6, the central bank left the interest rate unchanged at five percent. The inflation rate in Canada also dropped to 3.8 percent that month after rising to 4 percent in August.

Two days before this decision, Ford wrote a similar letter to Macklem urging the federal government to work with provinces and territories to invest in and build vital infrastructure projects instead of raising interest rates again.

To that end, in a separate letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday, Ford called on Ottawa to "address the root causes of inflation" and "enhance and strengthen" local supply chains, which he said have shown "vulnerabilities" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and escalating violence in the Middle East.

"When everyday essentials like groceries, fuel, and construction supplies cannot reach the market in a timely manner, it is ordinary hard-working people who end up paying the price - at the checkout, at the pumps, and on their mortgage and rent payments," he said.

The Bank of Canada is also set to release its quarterly monetary policy report on Wednesday, which will provide updated forecasts for inflation and the global and domestic economy.