More than three dozen Eclipse condo building pre-sale purchasers asking a B.C. Supreme Court judge to declare their contracts unenforceable for alleged breaches of B.C.'s Real Estate Development Marketing Act (REDMA) by insolvent Thind Properties, CBC.ca. The proceedings threaten to upend a standard creditor protection process by pitting provincial legislation protecting real estate consumers against federal laws designed to give debtors "breathing room" needed to repay creditors.

Factory activity in Canada rose strongly last month, with an early estimate pointing to a further advance in sales on the back of a surge in oil prices, the Wall Street Journal reported. Manufacturing shipments increased an estimated 4.6% in April from the month prior, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. That would mark a third straight month of improving sales for the industry. The largest increase in April sales was again in the petroleum and coal segment, the national statistics agency said.

Profits at Canada’s largest banks are expected to have increased despite trade tensions, the Middle East conflict and broader economic uncertainty, but now face tougher tests as more consumers struggle to pay debts and a subdued housing market weighs on their core domestic business, Reuters reported.

A new report from Equifax Canada says insolvency volumes have risen to the highest level since 2009 amid escalating financial strain on homeowners, BNNBloomberg reported. The firm’s first-quarter market pulse report on consumer credit trends says systemic risks persist even while Canadians are staying financially disciplined to cope with economic challenges. Insolvency volumes for the quarter were up 18.8 per cent year-over-year, indicating that many consumers “may have reached a financial inflection point,” it said.

A B.C. forestry company embroiled in insolvency proceedings has been handed a $429,000 penalty and two-year ban from hiring migrant workers after it was found to have violated several federal regulations, BIV.com reported. The sanctions to Vancouver-based San Industries Ltd. came after federal inspectors found it had breached five sections of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, rules designed to protect temporary foreign workers. According to a May 15 decision, inspectors found pay or working conditions did not match what San Industries had advertised.

Retail sales rose 0.9 per cent to $72.7 billion in March as higher gas prices boosted overall sales for the month, Statistics Canada said on Friday, BNNBloomberg reported. Sales at gas stations and fuel vendors rose 12.4 per cent as the attack on Iran by the U.S. and Israel drove oil and gas prices higher, the agency said. In volume terms, sales for the subsector fell 1.9 per cent for the month.

Developer Helen Chan Sun is the sole shareholder of a company that holds title to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Lower Mainland real estate. But the multimillionaire will spend the next 40 days in a jail cell after repeatedly ignoring B.C. Supreme Court orders to come clean with a creditor about her finances, CBC.ca reported.

Canadian home sales posted a modest increase in April from March ​after a slow start to the month, ‌and prices edged lower, data from the Canadian Real Estate Association showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. Home sales increased 0.7% month-over-month ​in April, though sales were down 4% on an ​annual basis, without seasonal adjustment. The sales-to-new listings ratio fell to 45.6% from 47.1% in March, moving further below the long-term ​average. Read more.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday said that there were no signs so far that artificial ‌intelligence was leading to widespread job losses, adding the technology had ‌the potential to transform tasks rather than eliminate them, Reuters reported. Deputy Governor Michelle Alexopoulos said the central bank was ​closely monitoring the employment market and anticipated that as AI becomes more prevalent, some jobs would be replaced and new ones would emerge.