Typically, GICs with long terms, such as five years, offer better interest rates than those with shorter terms, such as one year. When the opposite occurs, you have what’s called an “inverted yield curve,” explains Jason Heath, a fee-only, advice-only Certified Financial Planner (CFP) at Objective Financial Partners Inc. in Toronto. “It happens when interest rates are expected to go down significantly in the future,” he says. “Sometimes, it suggests a recession is coming.”