The Canadian Labour Congress is welcoming new legislation protecting workers’ pensions in case their employer declares bankruptcy or insolvency, HRReporter.com reported. “For decades we have seen companies pay out creditors, even pay out bonuses to executives, after declaring bankruptcy, while workers wait at the back of the line. We are glad to finally see workers being prioritized over banks and CEOs in bankruptcies situations,” says Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).
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Higher interest rates are starting to slow the Canadian economy, the Bank of Canada said on Tuesday, putting pressure on households with elevated debt and people who recently bought a home with a variable-rate mortgage, Reuters reported. "It will take time to get back to solid growth with low inflation but we will get there," Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said in a speech at the University of Ottawa. The Bank of Canada raised rates by 50 basis points last month to fight high inflation, lifting the policy rate to 3.75%, the highest since the 4% level seen in January 2008.
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Groupe Sélection, which operates several retirement residences in Montréal and on the West Island (Sélection Retraite West Island in Pointe-Claire and Sélection Retraite Le Cambridge, also in Pointe-Claire), has filed for bankruptcy protection, The Suburban reported. The banking group that handles Groupe Sélection’s finances, which includes Banque Nationale, has appointed the accounting firm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers to handle the company’s turnaround.
Lower-income Canadians will be disproportionately affected by the slowdown in economic activity that is needed to ease inflationary pressures, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Monday, Reuters reported. Macklem, in opening remarks to the fourth annual Conference on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Economics, Finance and Central Banking, also reiterated that inflation is too high and challenges remain as the central bank works to lower it.
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A six-figure hit for Nova Scotia's largest registered pension plan is at the heart of an alleged securities fraud case playing out in Texas that aims to recoup some of the $1 billion investors claim they lost, saltwire.com reported. The Nova Scotia Health Employee Pension Plan is the lead plaintiff in a proposed class-action case against engineering firm McDermott International, Inc.
Statistics Canada says consumer insolvencies rose 22.5 percent in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, marking the largest percentage increase in 13 years, The Canadian Press reported. Statistics Canada says consumer insolvencies rose 22.5 percent in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, marking the largest percentage increase in 13 years. Bankruptcy filings by both businesses and consumers were down throughout the pandemic because of government subsidy programs.
Workers are in demand in Canada, and they’re using their leverage to extract higher pay. That’s one factor shifting the odds, again, that interest rates will go higher, Bloomberg News reported. Average hourly wages rose 5.6% annually in October as the economy added 108,000 jobs, more than 10 times the consensus forecast. It was the fifth straight month wages were up more than 5%. Workers in construction, professional services, accommodation and food saw even bigger gains than that.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will propose a tax on corporate stock buybacks in an effort to encourage companies to invest in domestic operations and workers, Canadian Press reported, Bloomberg News reported. The story, which cited an unnamed government official, didn’t elaborate on the plan that will be part of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget update on Thursday. A person familiar with the document told Bloomberg News the report was accurate, without providing additional details.
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The Bank of Canada has not ruled out another oversized interest rate hike to fight sky-high inflation, governor Tiff Macklem said on Tuesday, acknowledging Canadians feel "ripped off" by fast rising prices, Reuters reported. Macklem, answering questions in the Senate's banking, trade and economy committee, said that while the central bank is starting to see signs rate increases are slowing the economy, it is still in excess demand.
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The Bank of Canada on Wednesday said it would take a flexible, risk-based approach in its nascent role as a digital payment regulator, aiming to ensure confidence in the safety and reliability of the fast-growing electronic payment segment, Reuters reported. The central bank became the regulator for payment service providers (PSPs) like card networks, digital wallets and money transfer services under Canadian law last year. It is now working with the federal government on setting out how that supervision will work.
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