The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Canadian banks are expected to post low profit growth as the threat of tariffs, a looming federal election and a slowing Canadian economy weigh on what otherwise would have been a stronger start to the year. The Globe's Stefanie Marotta writes that the country's six largest lenders report earnings for the first fiscal quarter next week, and analysts expect geopolitical tensions to boost provisions for loan defaults, which would take a chunk out of net income. The pessimistic launch into the year is also weighing on the share prices of Canadian banks, which are trending far below their U.S. peers. Canadian bank stocks have risen by 0.1 per cent this year, underperforming the S&P TSX Composite Index's 3.2-per-cent climb. U.S. lenders, however, are up 7.2 per cent this year. While the banks have maintained strong capital cushions to mitigate an economic downturn, tariff and political issues are weighing on a quarter that was expected to show stronger results in key lines of business. Analysts expect earnings to grow in the low-single-digit range on average compared with the same quarter last year. Scotiabank and BMO kick off the reporting season Tuesday.