Canada's retail sales dropped in June, data showed on Friday, as consumers continued to feel the impact of high interest rates and cut back on discretionary purchases, Reuters reported. Retail sales, which comprise local sales of vehicles, clothing, furniture, food and beverages among other items, dropped 0.3% on a monthly basis, less than last month's 0.8% decline. The sales were pulled down primarily as fewer customers bought vehicles and automotive parts, but also by lower purchases of personal care products and sporting goods, Statistics Canada said.
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Canada’s two biggest railways shut down early Thursday after talks with union leaders failed, immediately blocking arteries of North American supply chains that carry about C$1 billion ($740 million) per day in trade, Bloomberg News reported. More than 9,000 employees at Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. were locked out after a deadline passed without an agreement on a new contract. Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference had voted to strike over a number of issues, including scheduling and worker fatigue.
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More than 6,400 Fisker Ocean SUVs had been delivered as of April, but if – as seems increasingly likely – Fisker goes out of business and its assets are liquidated to pay off creditors, all those vehicles and their owners could essentially be left out in the cold, the Globe and Mail reported. Fisker began delivering the Ocean SUV to Canadian customers at the end of 2023. The company hasn’t disclosed how many were sold here, but they’re a rare sight on the roads. There were issues related to customer service and vehicle reliability.
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Inflation in Canada decelerated to the slowest pace in more than three years, keeping the central bank on track to cut rates for a third straight meeting next month, Bloomberg News reported. The consumer price index rose 2.5% in July from a year ago, following a deceleration to a 2.7% pace a month earlier, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday in Ottawa. That matched the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
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The two largest Canadian railroad companies will shut down operations Thursday if no agreement is reached with their unionized workers, forcing industries to brace for billions of dollars in losses, Bloomberg News reported. Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. issued lockout notices to a union representing more than 9,000 employees at both companies, essentially starting a countdown for a nationwide work stoppage unless parties reach a last-minute deal.
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Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard has sounded out Japan's Seven & i about a potential takeover, the two companies said on Monday, making the 7-Eleven owner the largest-ever Japanese target of a foreign buyout, Reuters reported. While the value of the offer has not been disclosed, the bid is the latest example of the growing interest in Japanese companies by Western investors, who have been drawn by the country's push for better governance.
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High-end Toronto grocer Pusateri's Fine Foods is consolidating its operations into one location and shuttering all other branches after filing for bankruptcy earlier last week, CBC.ca reported. According to the appointed insolvency trustee, Albert Gelman Inc., the grocer filed assignments in bankruptcy Tuesday for its locations in Bayview Village, Yorkville, Little Italy and Pusateri's Kitchen in North York, which operates as the warehouse and kitchen supplying in-house branded products to other branches.
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Canada Jetlines has announced an immediate halt to all flights and the temporary suspension of its operations due to a lack of necessary financing, Proactive Investors reported. The airline plans to file for creditor protection and has advised passengers with existing bookings to seek refunds through their credit card companies. The news comes following the recent resignation of four key executives, including CEO Brigitte Goersch.
Former Montreal Canadiens player Steve Bégin announced Thursday that he must declare bankruptcy, the Montréal Gazette reported. The 46-year-old former hockey player confirmed the news in a Facebook post. “The civil engineering company in which I had been offered to invest significant sums of money since 2013 went bankrupt, which had negative repercussions on my financial situation and consequently also caused a bankruptcy. I could have tried to avoid the subject, but I chose to talk about it openly, because I believe there are lessons to be learned,” he wrote.
Toronto-based Sampler has filed for bankruptcy, BetaKit reported. The digital product-sampling startup filed an assignment of bankruptcy on June 27 and held its first meeting of creditors on July 22, according to documents BetaKit obtained from Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. At the date of filing, Sampler had total liabilities of $12.9 million and total assets of more than $300,000. Sampler matches packaged goods companies with consumers who receive packages of free samples by mail.