Canadian manufacturing activity contracted in April at the steepest rate since shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as the uncertain nature of U.S. trade policy weighed on production and new orders, Reuters reported. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 45.3 last month from 46.3 in March, its lowest level since May 2020. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector.

Canadian electric bus and truck maker Lion Electric Co. is unlikely to survive as the Quebec government turned down an opportunity to put money into the firm along with local investors, Bloomberg News reported. “We believed in Lion’s potential, but the recovery plan submitted did not justify the re-injection of significant government sums,” provincial Economy Minister Christine Frechette said in a post on X.

The end may very well be near for Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. and its stalled Rochester Hub, the Rochester Business Journal reported. The Toronto-based lithium-ion battery resource recovery firm announced this morning that the business and all assets are for sale, as a whole or any part, and bankruptcy may be necessary if a buyer isn’t found. “Li-Cycle requires additional financing to meet its obligations and repay its liabilities arising from the ordinary course of business operations when they become due in order to continue,” the company statement says.

Vancouver-based real estate developer Landmark Premiere Properties is the subject of a second insolvency proceeding that was initiated earlier this month, according to filings in the Supreme Court of British Columbia obtained by STOREYS.com. The subject properties are 745 W 41st Avenue, 715 W 41st Avenue, and 5693 Heather Street in Vancouver. The parcels are three of the five parcels that make up the block between Baillie Street and Heather Street along W 41st Avenue, right across the street from Oakridge Park.

A 46-year-old Canadian trucking company has been put into receivership at the request of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), which said the carrier owes it $6.7 million, FreightWaves.com reported. Kingsley Trucking ceased operations on Thursday, the same day that the British Columbia Supreme Court placed the carrier into receivership due to the company’s being “unable to secure a transaction, financing, or other arrangement to address the defaults or repay the Indebtedness owing to the Bank,” according to court filings. The Vancouver Island-based trucking company was founded in 1979.

Hudson’s Bay Co. ULC, a company that’s so old it once played a central role for goods traders in Britain’s North American colonies, is being stripped for parts, Bloomberg News reported. The retailer, currently under bankruptcy protection in Canada, had devised a plan to rescue six of its 96 stores from liquidation, including its flagship location in one of the biggest shopping hot spots in downtown Toronto. But that plan has run aground and those locations are now being wound up too, and the company’s 17th-century artifacts are being auctioned off.

The Canadian economy faces short-term turbulence due to the fallout from President Trump’s trade policy, including the risk of tariff-fueled inflation, the country’s finance minister said Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said global policymakers are monitoring economic indicators closely for signs that U.S. trade policy is beginning to throttle growth. He added he would not predict whether Canada can avoid two straight quarters of negative growth, or the technical definition of a recession.

Canadian retail sales fell by 0.4% in February from January at C$69.33 billion ($49.95 billion), on lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Sales likely increased 0.7% in March, the agency said in a flash estimate, Reuters reported. In February, sales were down in four of nine subsectors, representing 43.1% of retail trade. In volume terms, retail sales decreased by 0.4%. Read more.

Hudson's Bay Co. has stopped paying commission to hundreds of cosmeticians and fragrance advisers during liquidation sales, effectively reducing their salaries, CBC.ca reported. These workers, also known as beauty advisers, earn commission on products sold, on top of their base salary. Hudson's Bay notified the beauty advisers 12 days in advance that, starting on April 20, they would only receive base pay, according to a company-issued letter seen by CBC News. "Please note that this is a decision we have not taken lightly," the retailer stated in the letter.