Canada’s unemployment rate rose to a six-month high in April to 6.9 per cent as the economy lost a net 17,700 jobs, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday, indicating continued weakness in a labor market that has struggled in the face of U.S. tariffs and trade uncertainty, Reuters reported. The Bank of Canada said in its Monetary Policy Report last month that indicators such as the employment rate, hours worked and job vacancies suggest there is slack, or underutilized capacity, in the labor market, although layoffs remain modest.

A recent report from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute has raised alarm bells over the growing incidents of fraud against Canadian seniors, according to a commentary in BNNBloomberg. Canadians reported being scammed out of more than a record $704 million last year following another record $645 million in 2024, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Since 2022, reported losses have topped $2.4 billion. Angus Reid notes the real figure is much higher because only five to ten per cent of fraud cases are believed to be reported to authorities.

The owner of the Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada has filed for insolvency protection on May 1, citing the steep drop in diamond prices and the regulatory requirements and costs associated with operating in the Northwest Territories, NationalJeweler.com reported. In an affidavit filed on April 30, Brent Mierau, corporate secretary and head of finance for Burgundy and Arctic Canadian, elaborated on the issues impacting Ekati.

Canada’s merchandise trade balance swung to a surplus in March as higher crude oil prices and surging demand for gold drove a sharp jump in exports while imports declined, data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Statistics Canada said the country posted a $1.78 billion surplus in March, compared with a $5.11 billion deficit in the prior month. It was the first time in six months that Canada posted a surplus as the war in Iran boosted crude oil prices lifting the value of exports from Canada. While gold prices fell, global demand for the precious metal helped boost exports further.

Burgundy Diamond Mines Limited today announced that its subsidiary, Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. (ACDC), has filed for insolvency protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), FinNewsNetwork.com reported. ACDC, which owns and operates the Ekati Diamond Mine, obtained an initial order from the Supreme Court of British Colombia, granting protection under the CCAA.

A judge has given the green light to the sale of the airport in Stephenville, CBC.ca reported. That decision ends the tumultuous ownership of Ottawa businessman Carl Dymond, who made big promises that never took off. On Thursday afternoon at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John’s, Justice Alexander MacDonald approved a bid by a major creditor to take over the operation. BTG Capital had pushed the Dymond-directed numbered company behind the airport into receivership earlier this year.

The federal government is launching a new $1 billion loan program for steel, aluminum and copper businesses impacted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, BNNBloomberg reported. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario Evan Solomon made the announcement in Vars, Ont. on Monday morning. “The new measures announced today will protect workers and ensure companies have the tools and financing they need to keep operating, growing, and building Canada’s strength at home,” Joly said in a statement.

A company that was aiming to build its first small modular nuclear reactor in New Brunswick is putting some of its assets up for sale as its future in the province is increasingly in doubt, CBC.ca reported. Moltex Energy Canada is selling its engineering designs, patents, software, intellectual property, modelling data and other assets to a new company looking to sell reactors elsewhere. British Columbia-based Nuclea Energy Inc. is offering Moltex $11.5 million — a small fraction of what taxpayers have poured into the Saint John company in the last decade.

Saskatchewan-based Monette Farms has filed for protection from creditors to reorganize nearly $900 million in total secured debt, according to court documents filed by the farm's owner, Darrel Monette, requesting a court to supervise an insolvency restructuring process, DTNPF.com reported. Monette Farms is one of the largest farming operations in North America with 350,000 acres that encompass both Canada and the U.S.

Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product rose 0.2 per cent in February, but there were early signs the economy might have stalled to close out the first quarter of the year, Bloomberg News reported. The agency says economic growth in the month was led by a 1.8 per cent gain in the manufacturing sector, marking its fastest pace of growth in more than three years.