Canada

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday held interest rates steady and reduced its bond-buying program, saying the economy needed less help as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, but warned that inflation would be higher than previously forecast in the near-term, Reuters reported. The central bank said economic growth should pick up in the third quarter of 2021 after being weaker than expected in the first half of the year.

Canadian municipalities reeling from a pandemic-driven hit to revenues are facing an added blow from surging liability insurance costs, forcing them to raise property taxes or even cut services for residents, Reuters reported. The increase in premiums, about 20% to 30% in many cases, has been driven by a shrinking pool of insurers, more claims in an increasingly litigious climate and uncertainty around payout amounts.

There were fewer corporate restructurings and bankruptcies among small and medium businesses in Canada last year compared to 2019. This was directly related to government initiatives that supported financially vulnerable businesses, delaying bankruptcy for many, according to a Toronto Star commentary. However, when the stimulus and government support come to an end, those businesses that were already vulnerable will find that repaying both pre-coronavirus and post-coronavirus debt may not be possible, and that the possibility of bankruptcy looms large.

Canadian aerospace firms are struggling to hire back workers to meet resurgent travel demand in the latest evidence of a post-pandemic labor crunch, industry executives said, Reuters reported. The squeeze has emerged as a warning signal for aviation's recovery internationally and accelerates a shift in the workforce toward fast-growth sectors like electric vehicles, they said.

Canadian lawmakers on Wednesday passed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's budget bill, approving billions in funding to extend COVID-19 supports on the last day of voting before the summer break and a likely election in the fall, Reuters reported. Bill C-30 passed 211 to 121, as the opposition New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois supported the measure. Trudeau's ruling Liberals have a minority in the House of Commons and must rely other parties to pass legislation. The bill will only become law once the Senate, or upper chamber, adopts it and it receives royal assent.

Securities misconduct in Canada has risen sharply as perpetrators attempted to capitalize on pandemic-driven uncertainties, while social media frenzy surrounding certain stocks and cryptocurrencies also opened the door to more wrongdoing, regulators said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Future cooperation between Canadian miner Centerra Gold Inc. and Kyrgyzstan’s government in operating a gold mine in the Central Asian nation is unlikely, according to the nation’s finance minister, Bloomberg News reported. The government took over Kumtor mine late last month, using environmental concerns and tax issues to justify the move. It is now the subject of international arbitration initiated by Toronto-based Centerra, while the mine’s operating company Kumtor Gold filed for chapter 11 protection in New York on May 31.

The Canadian government will loosen Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people amid warnings that a return to a completely open border will take awhile longer, Bloomberg News reported. Canadian citizens and residents who’ve received two shots will be exempt from a 14-day quarantine on arrival to the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government said in a statement Monday. Travelers will still need to show they’ve tested negative for Covid-19 before they cross into Canada and take a second test at the border.

The number of first-year students attending Laurentian University is expected to drop significantly this fall with many who applied and were accepted now getting cold feet, CTVNews.ca reported. Ken Steele, a Canadian expert in higher education, student recruitment and strategic planning, said statistics from the Ontario Universities' Application Centre show first-year enrolment confirmations are down 30 per cent at LU. That's significant because most of the students would have applied in January, before the university declared insolvency Feb. 1.