Canada

Global trade disruptions could make it harder for the Bank of Canada to consistently meet its 2% inflation target, and it will have to balance the risks of controlling higher prices with ensuring economic growth, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Inflation in Canada has been consistently falling this year, pushed down by interest rates that were at a two-decade high of 5% for more than a year before the central bank cut rates three times in a row from June.

Another tidal energy company that hoped to harness the powerful tides of the Bay of Fundy to generate electricity has come up short, CBC.ca reported. A spokesperson for the province's Department of Natural Resources and Renewables confirmed on Wednesday that Occurrent Power, formerly Big Moon Power, has filed for insolvency. "It is very unfortunate and is a concern for our tidal industry, clean innovation and greening the grid," Patricia Jreige said in a statement. Occurrent CEO Jay McKenna and CFO Mike Festa did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Canada’s economy added jobs for the first time in three months, but the unemployment rate surprisingly jumped to the highest level since the pandemic as the expanding pool of new workers are unable to find work, Bloomberg News reported. The country added 22,100 positions in August, and the jobless rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.6%. Outside the Covid-19 era, that’s the steepest rate since May 2017. The employment gains were driven by a net increase of 65,700 part-time positions. The number of full-time jobs fell 43,600.

The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point for a third consecutive meeting, and reiterated that it’s “reasonable” to expect more easing to come if inflation keeps decelerating, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem lowered the benchmark overnight rate to 4.25% on Wednesday. Officials’ communications were little changed since their July meeting, and highlight the central bank’s increased focus on downside risks to inflation as they cut rates. They now see “little evidence” of broad-based price pressures.

The Bank of Canada is likely to cut interest rates for a third consecutive meeting, as officials try to engineer a soft landing for the economy and inflation worries fade, Bloomberg News reported. Markets and economists widely expect policymakers led by Tiff Macklem to lower the benchmark overnight rate to 4.25% on Wednesday. The key question is whether officials will talk about the longer-range outlook, now that the US Federal Reserve is ready to move and forecasters are expecting a series of rate cuts stretching well into next year.

Canadian credit card holders carried over C$4,300 ($3,200) in balances on average in the second quarter, according to Equifax Canada, marking the highest level since the agency began collecting the data in 2007, Bloomberg News reported. A high interest-rate environment and rising unemployment are straining borrowers, especially younger Canadians, the credit bureau warned in a report released Tuesday. Consumer debt levels topped C$2.5 trillion last quarter, jumping 4.2% from a year earlier.

Staff at The Guardian and Journal Pioneer say they have been assured the newspapers will continue to publish as usual under their new owner, CBC.ca reported. The Guardian, based in Charlottetown, currently publishes on Tuesday through Friday, with a weekend edition on Saturdays. The Summerside-based Journal Pioneer operates as a weekly print publication. Postmedia reported Monday it had successfully closed the $1-million deal to acquire the P.E.I. newspapers, as well as several others in the Atlantic region, from SaltWire. SaltWire, which also owned The Halifax Herald Ltd.

China on Tuesday accused Canada of protectionism after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government imposed a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles, matching U.S. duties on Chinese EVs, the Associated Press reported. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said the tariffs would disrupt the stability of global industrial and supply chains, severely impact China-Canada economic and trade ties and damage the interests of enterprises in both countries. “China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposes this,” it said in a statement.

The Canadian arbitrator appointed to resolve a messy railroad labor dispute to protect the North American economy has ordered employees at the country’s two major railroads back to work so both can resume operating, the Associated Press reported. Saturday's order means Canadian National will be able to continue operating the trains it restarted on Friday morning just over a day after it locked out workers. But Canadian Pacific Kansas City likely won't be able to restart its operations before 12:01 a.m. Monday, when workers were ordered to return.

A union filed a strike notice against Canadian National Railway Co. just hours after trains began rolling again on Friday, creating a new obstacle in a labor dispute that has upended North American supply chains, Bloomberg News reported. The Teamsters union told the Montreal-based railway that it plans to withdraw the services of its roughly 6,500 members at 10 a.m. Toronto time on Monday if there’s no agreement on a new contract. Thousands of workers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd.