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Canadian police have arrested a man suspected in a weekend stabbing spree that killed 10 people in and around an indigenous tribal reserve in Saskatchewan, ending a four-day manhunt.

Myles Sanderson, 30, was taken into custody on Wednesday near the town of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, about 100 kilometres southwest of the area where the killings occurred on Sunday, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RMCP).

His older brother and accused accomplice, Damien Sanderson, 31, was himself found slain on Monday, a day after the stabbing rampage, in a grassy area of the James Smith Cree Nation.

"There is no longer a risk to public safety relating to this investigation," the RMCP said in an alert announcing the arrest.

No further details on the arrest were immediately provided.

Eighteen other people were wounded in the rampage, which ranks among the deadliest attacks in Canada's modern history and has rattled a country unaccustomed to acts of mass violence.

Police said some of the victims appeared to have been targeted, while others were apparently random.

Authorities have offered no motive for the attacks, which occurred on the James Smith Cree Nation reserve, home to some 3400 people, and the nearby village of Weldon, about 320km north of the provincial capital of Regina.

The arrest came shortly after the RCMP issued an emergency alert reporting that an unnamed individual believed to be armed with a knife was spotted driving a stolen pick-up truck in the town of Wakaw, just east of Rosthern.

Police said in that notice they believed the sighting was linked to the manhunt for Sanderson.

Police have said they were investigating whether the younger sibling might have killed his brother and possibly sustained injuries that required medical attention.

Myles Sanderson was briefly believed to have been spotted on Tuesday back in the James Smith Cree Nation, but a search of the reserve that day turned up no sign of the suspect, and police said they determined he was no longer there.

© RAW 2022

The suspect sought by Canadian authorities in a weekend stabbing spree that killed 10 people in and around an indigenous reserve has died of self-inflicted injuries shortly after his arrest, Canada's Global News agency reports.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said earlier on Wednesday that Myles Sanderson, 30, was taken into custody near the town of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, about 100 kilometres southwest of the area where the killings occurred on Sunday.

Global News, citing multiple law enforcement sources, reported Sanderson surrendered to police and was taken away alive in an ambulance after a highway pursuit in which police rammed his vehicle off the road.

He died shortly after of injuries authorities believe were self-inflicted.

His older brother and accused accomplice, Damien Sanderson, 31, was himself found slain on Monday, a day after the stabbing rampage, in a grassy area of the James Smith Cree Nation.

Police have said they were investigating whether the younger sibling might have killed his brother, and that Myles may have sustained injuries requiring medical attention.

There was no immediate official word of Myles Sanderson's death from Canadian authorities, who were expected to hold a news conference on Wednesday evening.

"There is no longer a risk to public safety relating to this investigation," the RMCP said in an alert announcing the end of the four-day manhunt.

As well as the 10 victims killed, 18 others were wounded in the rampage, which ranks among the deadliest attacks in Canada's modern history.

Police said some of the victims appeared to have been targeted, while others were apparently random.

Authorities have offered no motive for the attacks, which occurred on the James Smith Cree Nation reserve, home to about 3400 people, and the nearby village of Weldon, about 300km north of the provincial capital of Regina.

Sanderson's arrest came hours after new details about the victims and the circumstances of their deaths were brought to light by relatives.

During an emotional news conference on Wednesday, Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand revealed his sister, Bonnie Burns, 48, and his 28-year-old nephew, Gregory Burns, were stabbed to death in their front yard on the James Smith Cree reserve between on Sunday morning.

Burns' other three sons and two foster children were home at the time of the attacks.

"She was protecting her son. She was protecting these three little boys. This is why she's a hero. She's a true matriarch," Arcand said of his slain sister.

Dayson Burns, 13, was stabbed in the neck but survived, and another young boy in the home hid behind a high chair watching the violence unfold, Arcand said.

Ten of the wounded remained in hospital as of Tuesday afternoon, with seven in a stable condition and three critical.

Sanderson had been a fugitive since May when he stopped meeting his parole officer after serving time for assault, robbery and other offences, CBC News reported.

© RAW 2022

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has indicated there won't be any further cost of living relief measures in the federal budget, warning more spending could be "counterproductive".

It comes as Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe is due to speak about where the economy is headed and the role of monetary policy on Thursday.

Dr Chalmers warned Australians to brace for tougher times ahead and said the government was balancing relief against rising inflation and rates.

"The last thing we want to do is to provide that cost of living relief in a way that's counterproductive and just costs people more in the end," he told ABC radio.

"You're right to assume that our priority is the cost of living relief that we've already announced.

"It's difficult enough, frankly, to make room in a budget with a trillion dollars of debt for those commitments."

Dr Lowe's speech follows another rate hike this week, the fifth in a row, in an effort to tame soaring inflation.

He has made it clear there will be more rate hikes in coming months, although noted the bank was "not on a pre-set path".

Dr Chalmers said it wasn't up to him to "take pot shots at Phil Lowe".

"People will rightly ask the governor questions about the recent decisions and recent language," he told the ABC.

"My job is to get the system right and also to focus on the things that the government can have an influence on."

Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor said Labor needed a "timely" plan to "to strengthen the economy and reduce inflationary pressures".

Commonwealth Bank economists expect the 50 basis point rise on Tuesday to be the last supersized hike in this tightening cycle, and expect a 25 basis point increase in October to take the cash rate to 2.60 per cent.

"This is around the RBA's estimate of the neutral level - a cash rate level not considered too stimulatory or restrictive for the economy - given the recent softening in economic data and deteriorating sentiment," CommSec economist Ryan Felsman said.

But economists believe there's a chance the cash rate will reach 2.85 per cent by the end of the year.

The RBA's latest decision has also prompted calls for Dr Lowe's resignation.

Both the Greens and Nationals senator Matt Canavan have called for the central bank boss to resign because he promised rates would not start rising until 2024.

The Labor government has dismissed the suggestion, with Dr Chalmers arguing it is not for him to "second guess the decisions taken by the independent Reserve Bank".

While rate hikes did little to dampen growth figures in June - with GDP lifting by 0.9 per cent in the June quarter - economists expect the impacts of policy tightening to show up in the following quarter.

© AAP 2022