The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended down 75.08 points, or 0.3%, at 21,715.41, adding to declines on Monday.
Wall Street also dipped as U.S. Treasury yields fluctuated following data showing the hottest annual inflation in more than four decades.
"I think there is a lot of fear as to how far this inflation could go," said Michael Sprung, president at Sprung Investment Management, adding that he expects the Bank of Canada to be "fairly hawkish" at Wednesday's policy announcement.
Canada's central bank is expected to raise interest rates by a half-percentage-point, its first hike of that magnitude since May 2020.
It could also move to shrink its bloated balance sheet, a process known as quantitative tightening.
The heavily-weighted financials group fell 1.1% and health care, which includes many cannabis producers, ended 1.5% lower.
One such producer, Tilray Brands Inc fell 2.9% as it agreed to buy $193 million of Hexo Corp's remaining debt. The deal gives Tilray a right to pick up a significant equity stake in its troubled rival.
Helping to cap declines for the TSX was a gain of 2.4% for the energy sector as oil prices rose. U.S. crude oil futures settled 6.7% higher at $100.60 a barrel as lockdowns eased in Shanghai and OPEC warned it would be impossible to replace potential supply losses from Russia.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.6%. Gold was up 0.7% at about $1,967 per ounce.
Since the start of the year, the Toronto market has advanced 2.3%, one of few major global benchmarks to gain ground.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Additional reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Alistair Bell)
By Fergal Smith
