TORONTO, Jan 25 Reuters The Bank of Canada is expected to raise interest rates to a 15year high on Wednesday in the face of a tight job market and abovetarget inflation, but economists say the move could be the last in the current tightening cycle.

A Reuters poll of economists shows that Canada39;s central bank will hike its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.50, its highest level since December 2007, when the decision is released at 10 a.m. EST 1500 GMT.

This week39;s meeting will be significant as the BoC will offer minutes from the policysetting session for the first time. They will be published on Feb 8.

Money markets see a roughly 70 chance of a 25basispoint move and expect the policy rate to peak at 4.50.

An unexpected surge in employment in December and a decline in the unemployment rate to a near record low of 5 is the main reason we expect the BoC to follow through with one final rate hike, Royal Bank of Canada economists, including Nathan Janzen, said in a note.

After raising rates at a record pace of 400 basis points in nine months, the central bank said in December that a decision to tighten further would be datadependent.

Economists expect the BoC to leave the door open to further tightening should upcoming data show price pressures persisting and push back against market expectations for interest rate cuts in the second half of the year.

The BoC has said it wants to slow an overheated economy without causing a deep recession, but…