Canada

Canadian businesses reported widespread challenges with supply chains, labor shortages and their ability to meet strong demand in a Bank of Canada survey that will stoke worries about inflation and fuel expectations of a rate hike as early as next week, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank’s quarterly survey of executives paints a picture of an economy pressed up against its limits. Over two-thirds of respondents expect annual consumer price gains to surpass 3% over the next two years.

COVID-19 vaccine requirements for foreign truckers at the U.S.-Canada border still could cause supply-chain disruptions if both countries do not decide to allow exemptions, the head of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Late on Wednesday, Canada dropped a vaccine mandate for Canadian truckers returning home from the United States that was supposed to kick in on Saturday, but unvaccinated non-Canadians will still be turned back at the border.

Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) on Monday maintained their forecasts for growth in expenses this year despite expectations that inflation will remain elevated, Reuters reported. CIBC, Canada's No. 5 bank, said last month it expects mid-single-digit expense growth in fiscal 2022, after reporting a 13% increase in the fourth quarter, the highest in the industry.

Lawyers for insolvent Laurentian University continue to defend against a Speaker's warrant issued by the Ontario Legislature that aims to force the Sudbury school to give up privileged information to the auditor general, CBC.ca reported. A legislative committee tasked Bonnie Lysyk with a special audit last spring to look into how the university became insolvent.

CannTrust Holdings Inc., the troubled Canadian cannabis producer whose former executives have been charged with fraud, is preparing to wind down if it can’t find a way to fix a default by the end of the month, Bloomberg News reported. The Vaughan, Ontario-based company breached a minimum earnings covenant on its C$22.5 million ($17.7 million) bankruptcy loan, and is currently in negotiations with potential investors and strategic partners over ways to address the default and its liquidity shortfall, according to a Thursday statement.

A Canadian restaurant that’s made headlines for bucking COVID rules has filed for bankruptcy, the Toronto Star reported. Nique Restaurant Inc. filed for an “assignment in bankruptcy” on Dec. 29, 2021, according to a notice of insolvency that ran in The Spectator on Wednesday. The notice provides few details about the bankruptcy, but notes that the first meeting of creditors of the business will be held later this month in Burlington.

Canada's Centerra Gold on Monday confirmed it was in talks with the Kyrgyzstan government for an out-of-court settlement over a dispute in which the state seized the company's Kumtor mine, Reuters reported. In May 2021, Centerra kicked off arbitration against the former Soviet republic after it took over the country's biggest mine for allegedly posing danger to human lives or the environment. The company also froze the government's stake when it seized the mine, meaning it does not have voting rights, nor is it entitled to dividends.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is expanding the number of businesses that can use Covid-19 aid programs as the omicron variant fuels a surge in cases and new restrictions in Canada, Bloomberg News reported. At a press conference with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau said companies and individuals affected by new capacity limits will be eligible for extended financial help. Firms can receive wage and rent subsidies of 25% to 75% depending on how much revenue they’ve lost, the government said in a statement.

Canada's second most populous province of Quebec ordered bars, gyms and casinos shut on Monday and directed people to work only from home to fight the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Reuters reported. Health minister Christian Dube said the province had a record 4,500 new cases of the coronavirus a day and predicted worse was yet to come. He urged Quebecers to cut down their personal contacts with the approach of Christmas and New Year's Day. The new measures were due to take effect at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Monday. "The situation is critical ...