Canada's biggest banks said on Wednesday they will raise their prime lending rate by 50 basis points to 3.2%, a two-year high, following the Bank of Canada's benchmark rate hike, moves that could rein in the country's red-hot housing markets, Reuters reported. The country's four biggest banks - Royal Bank of Canada , Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal - said the higher prime rate, which variable-rate mortgages are tied to, will come into effect on Thursday.
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During a hearing Friday, lawyers for the University of Sudbury supported efforts to have a historic sexual assault claim removed from Laurentian University's insolvency process, CTVNews.ca reported. Under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), all claims against LU are to be dealt with as a whole. But Aron Zaltz, lawyer with Preszler Injury Lawyers, argued Friday that a complex claim like this should not be dealt with as part of insolvency. The $5 million claim dates to 1979 and involves a late professor who worked at the University of Sudbury.
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Canada has an ambitious plan to double the pace of homebuilding within a decade but the first big challenge is finding enough skilled workers, as the country grapples with the tightest labor market on record and with construction already at a multi-year high, Reuters reported. Building more homes is a key peg of the C$9.5 billion ($7.5 billion) in housing spending outlined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government in their budget on Thursday.
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Canada's dollar will strengthen over the coming year as the Bank of Canada potentially hikes interest rates aggressively but gains could be capped by the economy's dependence on the housing market, a Reuters poll showed. The median forecast in the poll was for the Canadian dollar to edge 0.4% higher to 1.25 per U.S. dollar, or 80 U.S. cents, in three months' time, matching last month's forecast. It was then expected to climb to 1.23 in a year's time.
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An Ontario court cleared the way for a receiver to wind up bankrupt lender Bridging Finance Inc., rejecting an attempt by investors to stall the liquidation, Bloomberg News reported. A group of Bridging unitholders had asked the Ontario Superior Court to allow more time to consider proposals to sell or reorganize the funds. But Justice Geoffrey Morawetz turned down their request and said PriceWaterhouseCoopers can cease its attempts to find a buyer, according to court documents posted Tuesday.
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John Aquino, the former president of a major and now bankrupt Ontario construction contractor, plans to appeal a provincial court ruling that puts him and his associates on the hook for $33 million drained from the company, according to his attorney, the Engineering News-Record reported. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld on March 10 a previous court decision that ordered Aquino, former president of Bondfield Construction Co. Ltd.
A work stoppage at Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail has started, and the timing is unfortunate, says one employer group, HRReporter.com reported. “The timing could not be worse for our members,” say Corinne Pohlmann, senior vice-president of national affairs, and Jasmin Guenette, vice-president for national affairs, at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
A prominent Ottawa business expert is predicting a wave of bankruptcies in the coming months as surging prices at gas pumps and grocery stores prompt Canada’s central bank to further raise its benchmark interest rate in a bid to put the brakes on inflation, the Ottawa Business Journal reported. Ian Lee, an associate professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, expects the Bank of Canada to impose “multiple” interest rate hikes this year as it tries to rein in an annual inflation rate that climbed to 5.7 percent in February, its highest level since August 1991.
A commodities rally sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine will push Canadian inflation higher for longer, with the headline rate now seen peaking at or above 6%, forcing the central bank to raise interest rates more aggressively, economists told Reuters. Canada's inflation rate has already surged well above the 5.1% that the Bank of Canada forecast for the first quarter in January, highlighting the tough road ahead to get price growth back down to the 2% target.