Canada recorded a 10% increase in insolvency filings in April compared to the previous month, reversing a trend of easing that began earlier in the year, MPAMag.com reported. The latest data from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada show that both consumer and business insolvencies contributed to the rise, with total filings reaching 11,950, up from 10,864 in March. The increase occurred during a period of economic uncertainty tied to slowing growth, trade policy concerns, and persistent cost-of-living pressures.

4Front Ventures Corp., a vertically integrated cannabis operator, announces that, following its previously announced U.S. bankruptcy petition, that it has made an assignment into bankruptcy pursuant to the Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, according to a company press release. B. Riley Farber has been appointed as the trustee in the Canadian Bankruptcy Proceedings. Further information may be obtained from the trustee at [email protected] or on the case webpage www.brileyfarber.com/engagements/4frontventures/.

The financially struggling Cape Breton Farmers' Market Co-operative has filed for bankruptcy a year after getting into a dispute with its former landlord in downtown Sydney, Nova Scotia, CBC.ca reported. Last May, the co-operative's vendors were locked out of their space in the Old Triangle building after D. MacPhee Realty said it was owed $76,000 in back rent and property taxes. The market's manager at the time, Pauline Singer, told reporters it owed about $25,000 in property taxes it was supposed to pay to the landlord as part of the lease agreement.

Canada prepared possible reprisals while the European Union reported progress in trade talks on Wednesday as new U.S. metals tariffs triggered more disruption in the global economy and added urgency to negotiations with Washington, Reuters reported. President Donald Trump's doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports kicked in on Wednesday, the same day his administration sought "best offers" from trading partners to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in July. The move will hit the closest U.S. trading partners - Canada and Mexico - especially hard.

The Bank of Canada left its main interest rate unchanged, at 2.75%, saying the economy has softened but not deteriorated, and inflation has picked up steam, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said officials expect second-quarter economic growth to be “much weaker” after a surprise 2.2% annualized increase in the first quarter that was buoyed by exports and inventories as companies rushed to purchase goods to avoid tariffs.

The Bank of Canada is expected to keep its main interest rate unchanged this week as policymakers set aside signs of distress in the labor market and domestic demand to focus on accelerating core inflation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Eleven of 13 economists surveyed last week by the Bank of Canada told The Wall Street Journal that they anticipate the central bank would keep the target for the overnight rate at 2.75%.

Fantasy werewolves are set to haunt Shiver — the much-anticipated film based on the first novel in the Wolves of Mercy Falls romantasy series which wrapped filming in Vancouver late last year. But the financial wolves at the doors of the movie's producers have put Shiver on ice — forcing the production company formed to make the film into insolvency and leaving hundreds of Canadian creditors out millions of dollars, CBC.ca reported. A British Columbia Supreme Court judge placed Mercy Falls B.C.

Canada's largest bank increased its provisions for credit losses more than 50% in its most recent quarter, as executives prepared for a potentially tariff-hobbled economy, American Banker reported. In the three months that ended April 30, net income for the Royal Bank of Canada was 4.39 billion Canadian dollars ($3.17 billion), short of analysts' average estimate of CA$4.54 billion according to S&P. Diluted earnings per share were CA$3.02, below S&P estimates of CA$3.09.

Canada Post on Wednesday reported a $611 million pre-tax loss in 2024 and simultaneously presented a “best and final” contract offer to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers with operational reforms it says are needed to stabilize finances and improve mail service, Freight Waves reported. The annual report underscored the financial pressures weighing on Canada Post and the need for restructuring, but sharp union criticism of the latest counteroffer foreshadows a potential escalation of the current labor action that could further hurt the bottom line.