Canada

Canadian retail spending flattened heading into the holiday season, an indication consumers may be hesitating in an environment of high interest rates and with signs showing the broader economy is struggling, the Wall Street Journal reported. Retail sales were relatively unchanged last month, according to an advance estimate of receipts released Thursday by Statistics Canada. That comes after sales in October rose 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted 66.95 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about $50.08 billion, the data agency said.

Canada's federal government will give C$471 million ($354 million) to Toronto, the country's largest city, to help it build more housing and alleviate a shelter crisis, the Globe and Mail reported. The newspaper said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose popularity has slumped in recent months amid complaints about housing, would make the announcement in Toronto. The money will come from a special C$4 billion fund which pays cities that agree to loosen zoning rules that protect neighborhoods dominated by single-family homes.

Canada’s small business minister is resisting a push to give companies more time to repay pandemic-era loans from the government, despite warnings from a lobby group that 250,000 firms are at risk if she doesn’t, Bloomberg News reported. Rechie Valdez, who was sworn into the cabinet post in July, said the government has been flexible by pushing back the deadline multiple times already and offering billions in support to small business. “I don’t think we’re giving small businesses enough credit. They’re unbelievably resilient,” she said in an interview in her Ottawa office.

Canada plans to revive a post-World War Two strategy of using pre-approved designs so homes can be built quickly and economically, in an effort to tackle a housing affordability crisis that has dented Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's popularity, Reuters reported. Housing Minister Sean Fraser said on Tuesday public consultations on the strategy - used in the 1950s to 1970s when housing demand surged after soldiers returned home - will begin in January.

Unsecured creditors of Metroland have approved an insolvency proposal by the Toronto Star's sister company, the Toronto Star reported. The creditors, including former employees, voted Tuesday at a meeting chaired by proposal trustee Jonathan Krieger, a partner at Grant Thornton, a restructuring and insolvency consultancy. The proposal still needs court approval.

Canada’s banking regulator chose not to boost capital requirements on the country’s largest lenders, signaling that officials believe banks’ balance sheets are strong enough to withstand economic turbulence, Bloomberg News reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions left the domestic stability buffer at 3.5%. It had increased it in June and last December. The buffer is like a rainy-day fund designed to protect the system by ensuring that banks can absorb losses in a weak economy or shock to the financial system.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) on Thursday called for policy changes to spur more housing construction and reduce pressure on inflation caused by a lack of shelter, especially at a time of record immigration, Reuters reported. Deputy governor Toni Gravelle spoke a day after the central bank held its key overnight rate at 5% but left the door open to another hike, saying it was still concerned about inflation.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) on Wednesday held its key overnight rate at 5% and left the door open to another hike, saying it was still concerned about inflation while acknowledging an economic slowdown and a general easing of prices, Reuters reported. The central bank raised rates by a quarter point in both June and July to a 22-year high and has left them on hold in the three policy-setting meetings since. Inflation slowed to 3.1% in October, down from a peak of more than 8% last year, but it has remained above the bank's 2% target for 31 months.

Canada’s Groupe Mach Inc. is acquiring residential properties with close to 2,000 units as part of a deal that will see it take over $415 million of mortgages from a crumbling real estate entity, Bloomberg News reported. The buildings were part of Groupe Huot, a Quebec-based diversified company that faced a liquidity crisis because of rising interest rates this year and saw a number of its businesses placed into a bankruptcy process.

Kinepolis Group NV, one of the largest theater operators in Europe, recently considered making a bid for Cineplex Inc., the No. 1 chain in Canada, but chose not to proceed after concluding a deal would struggle to win regulatory approval, Bloomberg News reported. Kinepolis may still pursue a deal if it can partner with another bidder to acquire some of Cineplex’s theaters.