At 9:47 a.m. (1347 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.3 percent lower at 1.3400 to the greenback, or 74.63 US cents. The currency, which touched its weakest since March 11 at 1.3428, was on track to fall 0.5 percent for the week.

The value of Canadian retail sales fell 0.3 percent in January from December, the third consecutive decline, pulled down in large part by weak auto sales, Statistics Canada data indicated. Analysts had forecast sales would increase by 0.4 percent.

Separate data from Statistics Canada showed that Canada's annual inflation rate edged up to 1.5 percent in February but remained below the Bank of Canada's 2.0 percent target for the second successive month.

"It is all consistent with a slower growth trajectory in Canada," said Andrew Kelvin, senior rates strategist at TD Securities. "They (the Bank of Canada) are on hold for a while."

The Bank of Canada has hiked interest rates by 125 basis points since July 2017 but said this month that there is "increased uncertainty about the timing of future rate increases." Money markets see about a 50 percent chance of a cut this year.

The US dollar  climbed against a basket of major currencies after a much weaker-than-expected German manufacturing survey pressured the euro.

The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, fell further from 2019 highs as focus shifted to a lack of progress in US-China trade talks. US crude oil futures  were down 1.4 percent at $59.17 a barrel.

The 10-year yield touched its lowest intraday since June 2017 at 1.600 percent.