Carney said the Bank of Canada would do whatever is necessary to stick to its 2 percent inflation target. But he made no mention of the possibility of interest rate hikes, a mainstay in many previous speeches.
Analysts said the omission of the bank's stock phrase about the need to remove monetary policy stimulus could indicate a more neutral policy stance, and the shift gave bonds a boost at the short end.
"I think the markets interpret that as more of a shift to a neutral assessment for the outlook, so ... (that's) given us some indication at least that it's a little bit more of a balanced outlook for policy," said David Tulk, chief Canada macro strategist at TD Securities.
The Canadian dollar ended the North American session at C$0.9800 to the US dollar, or $1.0204, barely changed from Friday's session close of C$0.9793, or $1.0211.
Earlier in the day, a weak headline number in the Bank of Canada business outlook survey pushed the currency lower, but it bounced back as risk appetite improved on stronger international economic data.
In its outlook survey, the central bank said Canadian business sentiment worsened in the third quarter due to the uncertain global economy, and investment intentions fell to a three-year low at a time when policymakers are prodding companies to put their cash to productive use.
But international news was better. Global stocks rose on upbeat US data and earnings and on bets that Spain was close to asking for a euro zone bailout, although the lack of details on Madrid's next actions pressured the euro.
Analysts said it was surprising that the Canadian currency was so quiet in the face of the perceived shift by the Bank of Canada as well as the global news. They said it is evidence that it will take something more dramatic to bump the Canadian dollar out of its recent range.
"Markets don't tend to react to headlines like they did in the past," said David Bradley, director of foreign exchange trading at Scotiabank.
The government bond market, however, took some direction from Carney's speech, with the short end given a lift by the suggestion of a more neutral tone.
The two-year bond gained 11 Canadian cents to yield 1.090 percent, while the benchmark 10-year bond was unchanged to yield 1.800 percent. Longer-term bonds slipped.