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File photo of Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of Canada, and Senior Deputy Governor Tiff Macklem making their way to a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Ont., Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Canada's next Bank of Canada governor will be named after markets close today, sources told The Globe and Mail.

Senior deputy governor Tiff Macklem is seen as the front runner, though the Canadian government has surprised markets before when it comes to the chief of the central bank.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has scheduled an announcement for 4 p.m. ET in Ottawa, the though the government would not comment.

Mr. Carney is heading to the Bank of England, having won global applause for his work at the Bank of Canada, his involvement in international circles and his standing in the global financial community.

Mr. Macklem, in turn, is seen as a steady hand who will carry on with the policies set under Mr. Carney, who is leaving his post earlier than planned, having been courted by the British government.

He has said he wants the job, but has not spoken about it much beyond that.

Ed Clark, chief executive officer of Toronto-Dominion Bank, said he would be "absolutely delighted" if Mr. Macklem gets the nod.

From a business and banking perspective, "we know he's very smart, he's very transparent, he's highly regarded in the international community ... we can work with him."

Two other names have also emerged as leading candidates: Stephen Poloz, now president of Export Development Canada, and Darrell Duffie, a native of Canada who teaches finance at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.

Mr. Carney's successor will come to the job in a post-crisis era of slow economic growth and high unemployment.

The economy expanded by 0.3 per cent in each of January and February, meaning the first quarter over all could be better than expected, though still showing not much more annualized growth than 2 per cent.

At the same time, the unemployment rate now stands at 7.2 per cent, with almost 1.4 million people out of work. Inflation sits at a tame 1 per cent, leaving Mr. Carney's successor a very free hand to hold the central bank's benchmark rate at its emergency low of 1 per cent for some time yet.

Based on the economic outlook, economists don't see the Bank of Canada moving on interest rates until late 2014 or early 2015, though that's based on the signals from a central bank under Mr. Carney, not his successor.

With files from Tavia Grant

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