A few weeks ago the provincial government in British Columbia made headlines by instituting a 15% extra land transfer tax on any real estate transactions from foreign buyers in an attempt to cool Vancouver’s red-hot real estate market, The Motley Fool reported. Reaction to the new law was strong on both sides of the issue. Realtors, mortgage brokers, and bullish investors decried the move, calling it unfair and racist. This group not only thought the law itself was unfair, but the decision to implement the new tax immediately drew extra ire.

BlackBerry’s announcement that it will be restructuring its debt is “smart financial management,” one tech industry analyst says, CTV News reported. “It gives BlackBerry even more runway as it continues to manage its way through what’s become a very protracted transition period,” CTV technology analyst Carmi Levy said Friday. BlackBerry announced Friday that it will be redeeming US$1.245 billion worth of unsecured convertible debentures, which can be converted into shares in the company at a price of US$10 per share.

An international arbitration tribunal has ordered Venezuela to pay a Vancouver-based mining company more than $1.2 billion ($1.5 billion Cdn.) for expropriating its gold mines. Venezuela took over Rusoro Mining’s investments in the country as part of a nationalization of the gold industry in 2011, the Toronto Star reported on a Canadian Press story. Rusoro Mining Ltd. said Tuesday the money is due immediately and it expects that Venezuela will comply with its international obligations.

Canada's national housing agency gave Maple Bank GmbH's Canadian branch the green light during a financial review, just one month before the federal banking watchdog seized the company's assets amid a German tax investigation, documents show. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press through an access-to-information request show that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reviewed Maple Bank GmbH's status as an issuer of mortgage-backed securities and a seller of Canada Mortgage Bonds in January 2016.

Canadian oil producer Pacific Exploration & Production Corp said on Wednesday it a majority of its creditors approved a restructuring plan, which will help it emerge from bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The company had filed for creditor protection in Canada in April as it grappled with a prolonged slump in oil prices. Pacific Exploration said the restructuring plan was approved by 98.4 percent of the affected creditors including Catalyst Capital Group, which represented 97.2 percent in value of the eligible voting claims.

Tervita Corp., a Canadian provider of waste management services to the oil industry, plans to seek new credit after completing restructuring talks with lenders to slash its C$2.5 billion ($1.9 billion) worth of obligations, Bloomberg News reported. The company, which is using a 30-day grace period after skipping an interest payment on Monday, expects to be able to secure new lending after the restructuring thanks to its “good quality assets,” Vice President Ryan Wong said in an interview. The deal would involve converting some debt to equity, he said.

Just a year after its stock rocketed to an all-time high, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. looks like an entirely different company, The Wall Street Journal reported. About $80 billion of the Canadian drugmaker’s market value has been erased, as has its business model of acquiring drugs and raising their prices. Its former chief executive, Michael Pearson, has departed in favor of Joseph Papa.

Canada’s annual inflation rate rose in June, fueled by higher car and electricity prices, and increased costs associated with housing, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The all-items consumer-price index in June rose 1.5 percent from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said Friday, matching the previous month’s advance. June’s annual core-inflation rate—which excludes volatile components such as some food and energy prices—increased 2.1 percent. The latest reading marks the 21st time in a 24-month period that core consumer prices rose by 2 percent or more.

Low interest rates around the world are fueling a familiar threat of housing bubbles, and central bankers in a number of key economies feel powerless to stop them, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The problem is being acutely felt in Canada, where home prices are soaring even as the country’s energy- and mining-dependent economy slows. Sweden and Australia are dealing with similar surges in the value of homes, leading officials in all three countries to worry about the risk of a destabilizing bust.

Incensed Hamilton steelworkers are calling for a public inquiry into U.S. Steel Canada's bankruptcy protection process, CBC.ca reported. This is the latest move in a long fight the union has spearheaded while U.S. Steel Canada searches for a buyer. "Our retirees deserve to live in dignity and stop having to worry whether what they earned will be swindled from them," United Steelworkers 1005 president Gary Howe said in a statement.