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Canada inflation creeps higher in April

Central bank under pressure for another interest rate hike

Canada’s annual inflation rate ticked up again in April, official data showed May 18, exceeding analyst expectations and upping the pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates to keep price expectations in check. Headline inflation hit 6.8 per cent in April, just beating analyst forecasts that the annual rate would stay flat at


The Bank of Canada has raised rates by half a percentage point and said more increases were coming to fight inflation.

Canada inflation surges to 31-year high

Inflation left analyst expectations in the rear-view mirror in March

Reuters – Canada’s annual inflation rate accelerated faster than expected in March, hitting a 31-year high amid broad price pressures, official data showed April 20, pointing toward another oversized rate hike from the Bank of Canada in June. The headline rate hit 6.7 per cent in March, well above analyst expectations of 6.1 per cent

File photo of a view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

Pandemic border protests strand cattle and car parts

Ottawa | Reuters — Protests in Canada against vaccine mandates have disrupted two key U.S. border crossings, and are snarling hundreds of millions of dollars daily of trade, ranging from cattle to car parts. Demonstrations who at first demanded an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers began Jan. 28 in the

Ten-year-old Balsam fir trees on Nov. 12, 2021 at Downey Tree Farm and Nursery at Hatley, Que., about 30 km south of Sherbrooke. (File photo: Reuters/Christinne Muschi)

B.C. floods may tighten market for real Christmas trees

'We're basically shut down until the water recedes'

Ottawa | Reuters — Finding the perfect real Christmas tree will be harder and more expensive this year. Canada, the world’s top exporter of natural Christmas trees, is grappling with a shortage that will likely be exacerbated by historic flooding in British Columbia, where some tree farms are underwater. A phenomenon known as an atmospheric


Bank of Canada plans new tools to assess climate impact on economy

Increases in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events seen in coming years

Reuters – The Bank of Canada will develop new models and data sources to better understand how climate change is impacting Canada’s economy, and will include these findings in its quarterly forecasts to help markets price risks. The central bank, in a release tied to the UN’s COP26 global climate summit, said it will assess

Photo: daoleduc/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Canada economy seen weaker than expected as supply chain woes weigh

Ottawa | Reuters – The Canadian economy most likely underperformed expectations in the third quarter amid ongoing supply chain woes and a brutal drought, official data suggested on Friday, prompting analysts to forecast the Bank of Canada could move slower on rate hikes. The economy expanded by 0.4 percent in August, missing estimates, and looked

“The way forward has been deeply clouded by the second wave and renewed restrictions, so growth will cool considerably in Q4.” – Doug Porter, chief economist, BMO Capital Markets.

Canada economy grew through September, but way forward ‘clouded’

As the pandemic’s second wave arrives uncertainty abounds

The Canadian economy grew in both August and September, with the August gain slightly above expectations, but a rise in COVID-19 infections, along with targeted restrictions to curb the virus, are expected to put a lid on economic activity into the fall. Canada’s real GDP rose 1.2 per cent in August, ahead of analyst estimates


(FIle photo by Dave Bedard)

China’s ban on Canadian canola expands to Viterra

Beijing/Ottawa | Reuters — China expanded its ban on Canadian canola seed imports on Tuesday to include shipments from Viterra, the latest development in a wider trade dispute between the two countries. Viterra is the second canola exporter to have its registration cancelled, after Beijing halted shipments from top exporter Richardson International earlier this month.