A surge in mortgage borrowing is pushing consumer debt loads higher in Canada despite falling credit card use, as households plow more money into their homes while spending less on everything else, Bloomberg News reported. New mortgage borrowing rose 41% in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2020, when the pandemic began, according to a release Tuesday from consumer credit reporting firm Equifax Inc. The average limit on new mortgages -- the amount for which borrowers were approved -- jumped more than 20% to C$326,930 ($270,490).

The president and vice-chancellor of Laurentian University said that he did reach out to both the provincial and federal governments and was transparent about the university's financial difficulties prior to seeking creditor protection on February 1st, CBC News reported. Robert Haché made that comment during an appearance at the Standing Committee on Official Languages on Thursday. Haché was questioned by both Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre and Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus.

Canada’s Centerra Gold Inc. on Monday said that Kyrgyzstan units Kumtor Gold Co. and Kumtor Operating Co. have commenced bankruptcy proceedings in a U.S. court following nationalization of the miner’s Kumtor gold mine by the former Soviet republic, Reuters reported. Centerra said that the chapter 11 filing would have no financial or operational impact on it or any other areas of its business, including the Mount Milligan mine in Canada, the Oksut Mine in Turkey and its molybdenum business in North America. Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest foreign investment project, was operated by Centerra.

Laurentian University is working through its insolvency process, preparing a way to deal with claims against it, including ones before it declared bankruptcy and after, CTVNews.com reported. In its fourth report, the accounting firm Ernst & Young outlined a process for handling financial claims from such parties as the banks, smaller creditors, its unions and former staff. The firm, which is the monitor for the process under the Companies' Creditor Arrangement Act, is seeking court approval of its proposals. With a few exceptions, there would be a deadline of July 30 to make a claim.

Argentine power-plant owner Stoneway Capital Ltd. is discussing borrowing money from the senior bondholders challenging the company’s U.S. bankruptcy filing and pushing to relocate the restructuring to Canada, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Stoneway, seeking to finance its stay in bankruptcy, is discussing potential loan terms with senior bondholders and junior creditors, as well as potential outside lenders, the company’s lead lawyer, Fred Sosnick, said at a virtual hearing on Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The bondholders, including BlackRock Inc.

Alberta, the province that produces most of Canada’s oil, expects to lift almost all Covid-19 restrictions by July as vaccinations pick up and infections decline, Bloomberg News reported. Outdoor dining will be permitted in restaurants starting next week and hair salons will be allowed to book appointments, Premier Jason Kenney said in a press conference. By the middle of June, gyms will be allowed to reopen and restaurants will be able to serve people indoors. Two weeks after 70% of the population receives a first dose of vaccine, almost all restrictions will be lifted.

Canada's biggest pension managers boosted their investments in the country's major oil sands companies in the first quarter of 2021, raising questions about the funds' recent commitments to greening their portfolios, Reuters reported. The cumulative investment by the country's top five pension funds into the U.S.-listed shares of Canada's top four oil sands producers jumped to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021, up 147% from a year ago, a Reuters analysis of U.S. 13-F filings show.

Bankruptcies in Alberta dropped dramatically during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this spring’s recent uptick in insolvencies could be a sign of things to come, the Calgary Herald reported. Across Canada, business and consumer bankruptcies both dropped to record lows during COVID-19, with Alberta being no exception. Despite the province being hit by the double whammy of a pandemic-induced recession and slumping oil and gas prices, consumer insolvency filings in Alberta were 27 per cent lower in the 12-month period ending March 2021 than they were the year before.

Canadian consumer insolvencies surged by nearly 23 per cent month-over-month in March, according to data released by the Office of Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) yesterday, BNN Bloomberg reported. That increase marked the largest one-month jump in new filing activity in more than a decade as some consumers simply hit a wall when it came to staving off a bankruptcy. Several factors led to the month-over-month increase, including consumers running out of income supports, the return-to-work trend, resumption of wage garnishments, and the courts gradually returning to more normal activities.