Canada

The United States Trade Representative's (USTR) office said on Tuesday it opposed Canada's plan to enact a digital services tax (DST) and urged Canada to abandon plans for such a step, Reuters reported. "The United States urges Canada to abandon any plans for a unilateral measure and instead redouble its commitment to the rapid implementation of Pillar One of the October 8 OECD/G20 agreement and the negotiation of a multilateral convention", the USTR office said in a statement.

Canadian retail sales most likely rose 2.4% in January from December, preliminary data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday, following on a 1.8% decline in December as consumers stayed home amid concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant, Reuters reported. Retail sales totaled C$57.05 billion ($44.91 billion) in December, down from C$58.06 billion in November. For full year 2021, retail sales came in at C$674 billion, an all-time record, Statscan said. In December, sales were down in eight of 11 subsectors, representing 41.7% of retail trade.

Canadian banks have begun cutting off financial services to people linked with ongoing anti-vaccine-mandate demonstrations in Canada, an unprecedented use of financial power following an emergency order from the government, the Wall Street Journal reported. With protesters occupying the streets of Canada’s capital, Ottawa, and several border crossings blockaded until recently, the government has used emergency powers to put the nation’s financial institutions in the unusual position of using their anti-money-laundering and sanctions expertise to crack down on banking customers.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has received approval from an Ontario court of a C$125 million ($98 million) settlement to resolve claims in a class-action lawsuit alleging misrepresentations made by the bank and its former executives in 2007 and 2008, the plaintiffs' lawyers said on Friday, Reuters reported. Misrepresentations were found in CIBC's quarterly financial filings and public oral statements about the Canadian bank's investments in the United States and its exposure to U.S.

Canada roped in banks to help cut funding to protesters against COVID-19 mandates this week, but the requested speed and broad scope of the measures leaves financial institutions to their own devices in enforcing most of them, industry-watchers said, Reuters reported. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday invoked the rarely used Emergencies Act, imposing sweeping measures that require banks to freeze accounts linked to the protest without court orders, ask insurers to suspend coverage on vehicles used in blockades, and bring crowdfunding platforms under terror financing oversight.

In a highly unusual move, the Canadian government on Monday invoked a series of emergency powers that include limits on public gatherings in a bid to end disruptive demonstrations in the capital city and along the Canada-U.S. border, the Wall Street Journal reported. The measures, announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, represent one of the most striking responses by a Western government against protests by those opposing Covid-19 vaccine mandates and social restrictions in response to the pandemic, and immediately drew fire from some Canadian leaders and civil-liberties groups.

A judge on Friday ordered protesters at the Ambassador Bridge over the U.S.-Canadian border to end the 5-day-old blockade that has disrupted the flow of goods between the two countries and forced the auto industry on both sides to roll back production, the Associated Press reported.

The Canadian Debtors Association is calling on all parties in the credit, debt and insolvency industry to work together and modernize Canada's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) to help Canadians in financial difficulty, according to a press release. "A core principle of Canada's insolvency legislation and policy is to provide a "fresh start" for people who are overwhelmed by debt," says Canadian Debtors Association President and CEO Henrietta Ross. "This principle is widely accepted by legislators, stakeholder groups, academics and insolvency experts.

Canada's economy does not need more stimulus, but rather more investment from both government and businesses to build up supply capacity to meet strong consumer demand, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Macklem, when asked in an audience Q&A session if government should be spending billions to further stimulate the economy, said Canada is already in the midst of a consumer-led recovery, and more capacity investment is needed to sustain that. "To sustain a strong consumer-led recovery, you need investment," he said.

Canada posted a surprise trade deficit in December, as imports hit a new record high and exports fell from November, official data showed on Tuesday, but economists expect an export rebound in January on surging energy prices, Reuters reported. Canada's trade deficit was C$137 million ($108 million) in December, well below analyst forecasts of a surplus of C$2.50 billion. November's surplus was also revised down to C$2.47 billion from C$3.13 billion, still good for a 13-year record.