Canada

Some of Canada’s mid-sized cities are flourishing – but not all: Almost half of them have not recouped the jobs they lost during the recession, The Globe and Mail reported. New analysis by the Conference Board of Canada finds that 21 of the 46 medium-sized cities it tracks haven’t yet seen employment return to pre-recession levels. Most of these cities had been bustling up until the 2008-2009 recession. But the ensuing downturn caused economies to contract in 29 of the cities tracked.

Nortel Networks Corp.'s European units on Wednesday appealed a Delaware bankruptcy judge’s decision to forego arbitration and, instead, hold a cross-border trial in conjunction with a Canadian court to decide how to split $7.3 billion in cash between the company’s far-flung affiliates, Law360 reported. The appeal — lodged in Delaware district court — challenges U.S.

Calgary-based oil field services firm Poseidon Concepts Corp. filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection Friday in Colorado bankruptcy court, three days after petitioning for creditor protection in Canadian court and nearly two months after announcing it would have to restate its earnings for three quarters of 2012, Law360 reported.

U.S. units of Canadian telemarketer iMarketing Solutions Group Inc. entered Chapter 15 in Delaware bankruptcy court Friday and sought immediate recognition of the insolvency proceedings commenced by its parent in a Toronto court earlier in the day, Law360 reported. Counsel for Xentel Inc. and seven other IMSG subsidiaries appeared in Wilmington hours after the Chapter 15 filing and asked the Delaware court to officially recognize the foreign proceedings as the company was “gravely concerned” that U.S.

Investors in one-time market darling Poseidon Concepts Corp. are unlikely to recover any value despite the company winning temporary court protection from creditors, a Calgary analyst says, the Edmonton Journal reported. On Wednesday, the Calgary oilfield fluid-handling company that once had a market value of $1.3 billion announced it had been granted a Court of Queen’s Bench order under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. It was Poseidon’s first official word since Feb. 26, when it announced two executives had quit, and Feb.

Canada's federal budget laid out plans on Thursday to impose higher capital requirements on banks whose failure could disrupt the Canadian financial system and economy, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also said the federal government would go ahead with its own capital markets regulatory framework if it cannot agree with the provinces on creating a common securities regulator.

The U.S. and Canadian judges overseeing the long-deadlocked bankruptcy of Nortel Networks Corp. have ruled that a joint cross-border trial will be held later this year to determine how to divvy up the defunct company’s remaining $9-billion, The Globe and Mail reported. Mr. Justice Geoffrey Morawetz of the Ontario Superior Court and Chief Judge Kevin Gross of the U.S.

Bankrupt telecoms equipment giant Nortel Networks once boasted of a global operation, but now its former world-wide units are squaring off over its last remaining asset: $9 billion in cash. Two judges, one in Wilmington, Delaware, and the other in Toronto, will jointly hear arguments on Thursday that will ultimately decide how, and when, to carve up that money, Thomson Reuters News & Insight reported. The outcome will determine how much will be available for tens of thousands of retirees, governments and hedge funds investors. "The issues which remain for decision are imposing," U.S.

One year after she predicted massive oil-sands-fueled surpluses, Alberta Premier Alison Redford is taking on debt and rolling out an austerity budget – one that flat-lines spending, abandons many of her election promises and will see the province borrow $12-billion over three years for infrastructure projects, The Globe and Mail reported. Ms. Redford’s budget, tabled Thursday, signals tough times ahead for Canada’s richest province, due in large part to forecasts of plunging oil revenue that would, ultimately, also affect the federal government’s bottom line.

For the first time in a year, Canada’s central bank on Wednesday signalled comfort with the trajectory of household debt, a shift that will allow policy makers to focus more tightly on signs of deteriorating economic growth, The Globe and Mail reported. In a revised policy statement, the Bank of Canada dropped language that was intended to signal a willingness to raise borrowing costs to curb a surge in household borrowing to record levels.