Bank of Canada governor David Dodge is stepping down next January after the end of his single seven-year term at the helm of the central bank.

Mr. Dodge, 63, announced late Wednesday that he would not be seeking another seven-year term, and that he was indicating his plans well in advance to "facilitate the selection and appointment of his successor."

Analysts said Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Paul Jenkins, deputy governor Tiff Macklem, and several economists at Canada's largests banks are among the candidates to replace Mr. Dodge.

The outgoing governor previously served as Deputy Minister of Finance and Deputy Minister of Health before taking the post at the head of the Bank of Canada.

He has helped steer the Canadian economy through one of its longest expansionary periods after World War II, cutting interest rates when the export trade weakened in 2001 to lift the country out of a possible recession and helping keep the inflation rate close to the central bank's two-per-cent target.

Canada's mortgage rates and unemployment rate have also fallen to their lowest levels in decades since Mr. Dodge took the governor's seat in February 2001.

However, critics have spoken out against Mr. Dodge's relative inaction against the phenomenal rise of the loonie between January 2002 and May 2006, which slowed the country's export trade and severely dented the manufacturing industry.

The Bank's board of directors said in a statement that it would soon be forming a special committee of independent directors to start the recruitment process for the selection.

The selection process for the new governor is expected to be completed by fall 2007.