The numbers aren’t dramatic at first glance — a 2.3 per cent annual increase in consumer insolvencies tempered by a 3.8 per cent dip in filings in the fourth quarter. But taken together, they tell a story about pressure building quietly for many Canadian households, the Toronto Star reported. New data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) shows there were 140,457 consumer insolvency filings in 2025 — the second-highest annual total since record-keeping began in 1987, and the highest in 16 years.

A.Y.K. International Inc., the maker of Secret and Silk pantyhose, has struck a deal to purchase insolvent Sheertex parent SRTX Inc., The Globe and Mail reported. SRTX and three affiliates last week filed a notice of intention to make a proposal under the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, with PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. acting as trustee. The deal, which requires court approval, would be structured as a “reverse vesting” deal, meaning that assets and liabilities that Montreal-based A.Y.K. doesn’t want would be transferred to a separate entity. A.Y.K.

Factory activity in Canada hit the brakes last month, with an early estimate pointing to a sharp retreat in sales, the Wall Street Journal reported. Manufacturing shipments fell by about 3.3% in January from a month prior, an early tally by Statistics Canada showed. That would mark a third decline in the last four months. The largest declines to start the year were in transportation equipment and machinery, the data agency said Tuesday.

Canadian luxury real estate developer Westbank Projects Corp. was struggling with losses and delays on a string of high-profile projects as recently as September, according to a lawsuit from a former executive who claims she’s owed money, Bloomberg News reported. Rhiannon Mabberley, who was Westbank’s vice president of development, is suing her former employer for breach of contract, constructive dismissal and failure to meet obligations of good faith, according to filings in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. She’s claiming C$1.2 million (around $880,000).

An Ontario court has agreed to recognize a U.S. bankruptcy filing from the operator of Eddie Bauer’s Canadian stores, the Canadian Press reported. The Ontario Superior Court’s recognition of the case paves the way for any outcomes in the U.S. proceedings to more easily be applied in Canada. When apparel firm Eddie Bauer LLC filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, it said it would look to sell its stores while it liquidates its Canadian and American shops. The Ontario court filings show 24 of the company’s 175 North American stores are in Canada.

Canada's trade deficit narrowed in December even as its share of exports to the United States dropped to the lowest level on record, barring two months during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. The latest numbers indicate that Canada has managed to reduce its exposure to the world's largest economy, which is also its largest trading partner, as non-U.S. exports hit an all-time high. Statistics Canada said the country recorded a C$1.31 billion ($957 million) deficit in December, led by metals and non-metallic mineral exports.

Earlier this month, President Trump found the latest pressure point to extend his leverage over Canada: a new bridge connecting the country to the United States that is expected to open this year, the New York Times reported. Trump threatened to block the opening, just hours after the billionaire owner of a competing U.S.-Canada bridge met with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary. It wasn’t that the president was particularly passionate about the new bridge.

Statistics Canada says lower prices at the pump and easing shelter inflation helped rein in the pressure facing consumers in January, BNN Bloomberg reported. The agency said Tuesday that the annual rate of inflation ticked down to 2.3 per cent last month. Economists had expected inflation to hold steady at 2.4 per cent. StatCan said gas prices were 16.7 per cent lower year-over-year in January, largely thanks to the end of the consumer carbon price in April. That decline helped offset food inflation, which accelerated to 7.3 per cent annually in January.

The central Alberta community of Gibbons’ status as a town hangs in the balance as a series of bad financial decisions have jeopardized its future and left it hurtling towards insolvency, according to the town’s mayor and council, CBC.ca reported. Town officials, including interim chief administrative officer Tim Duhamel, presented information about the town’s financial situation to Sturgeon County’s mayor and council on Tuesday morning. “We're in a terrible situation right now, unprecedented for sure,” Gibbons Mayor Rick Henderson said.

The GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on Wednesday designed to roll back President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, as a half-dozen Republicans joined Democrats in rebuking the administration’s signature economic policy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The House voted 219-211 to approve a Democratic resolution that would invalidate the emergency declaration that underpins Trump’s tariffs on Canada.