Canada

Laurentian University has come a long way to repairing damage to its reputation in the nearly two years since it exited insolvency restructuring in late 2022, said the university’s new president, Sudbury.com reported. Lynn Wells, who became Laurentian’s 12th president and vice-chancellor in April, spoke about the many daunting tasks she has ahead of her to a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce audience on Sept. 17, as well as a meeting of Laurentian’s senate held the same day.

Canada Jetlines has appointed BDO Canada Limited as trustee of the bankrupt estate, the carrier announced, while Dentons Canada LLP will continue as the company's legal counsel, ch-aviation.com reported. Jetlines' creditors, who are owed a total of CAD11.8 million Canadian dollars, are set to have a teleconference meeting on October 1. “On September 11, 2024, Canada Jetlines Operations Ltd. filed an Assignment in Bankruptcy after finding that it would be unable to secure financing to continue with its Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

Canadian manufacturing activity picked up more strongly than expected in July thanks to an improvement by most of the country’s refineries with a rise in prices and demand and a jump in pharmaceutical and medicine sales, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sales volumes also improved, hinting at a recovery for a sector that has remained in the doldrums and offering a tailwind for the economy for the month. Factory shipments rose 1.4% from the month before to a seasonally adjusted 70.97 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about US$52.23 billion, Statistics Canada said Monday.

Global trade disruptions could make it harder for the Bank of Canada to consistently meet its 2% inflation target, and it will have to balance the risks of controlling higher prices with ensuring economic growth, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Inflation in Canada has been consistently falling this year, pushed down by interest rates that were at a two-decade high of 5% for more than a year before the central bank cut rates three times in a row from June.

Another tidal energy company that hoped to harness the powerful tides of the Bay of Fundy to generate electricity has come up short, CBC.ca reported. A spokesperson for the province's Department of Natural Resources and Renewables confirmed on Wednesday that Occurrent Power, formerly Big Moon Power, has filed for insolvency. "It is very unfortunate and is a concern for our tidal industry, clean innovation and greening the grid," Patricia Jreige said in a statement. Occurrent CEO Jay McKenna and CFO Mike Festa did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Canada’s economy added jobs for the first time in three months, but the unemployment rate surprisingly jumped to the highest level since the pandemic as the expanding pool of new workers are unable to find work, Bloomberg News reported. The country added 22,100 positions in August, and the jobless rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.6%. Outside the Covid-19 era, that’s the steepest rate since May 2017. The employment gains were driven by a net increase of 65,700 part-time positions. The number of full-time jobs fell 43,600.

The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point for a third consecutive meeting, and reiterated that it’s “reasonable” to expect more easing to come if inflation keeps decelerating, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem lowered the benchmark overnight rate to 4.25% on Wednesday. Officials’ communications were little changed since their July meeting, and highlight the central bank’s increased focus on downside risks to inflation as they cut rates. They now see “little evidence” of broad-based price pressures.

The Bank of Canada is likely to cut interest rates for a third consecutive meeting, as officials try to engineer a soft landing for the economy and inflation worries fade, Bloomberg News reported. Markets and economists widely expect policymakers led by Tiff Macklem to lower the benchmark overnight rate to 4.25% on Wednesday. The key question is whether officials will talk about the longer-range outlook, now that the US Federal Reserve is ready to move and forecasters are expecting a series of rate cuts stretching well into next year.