Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's government announced plans Thursday to temporarily lift the federal sales tax off a number of items and send checks to millions of Canadians who are dealing with rising costs and as a federal election looms, the Associated Press reported. The measures come as a cost of living crisis has left voters unhappy with Trudeau and ahead of an election that could come anytime between this fall and next October. “Our government can’t set prices at the checkout, but we can put more money in people’s pockets,” Trudeau said at a news conference in Toronto.

Canada’s banking and insurance regulator said it expects executives and boards to be accountable for their company culture, and it’s beefing up its rules on how to do that, Bloomberg News reported.

Canada’s Flair Airlines Ltd. is looking to raise around $150 million of senior debt as part of an ongoing overhaul at the budget carrier, Bloomberg News reported. The firm, which said in August that it was in talks to raise funds, is working with Haywood Securities Inc. to do so. Flair recently reported C$14.7 million ($10.5 million) of third-quarter Ebitda. “We had a great third quarter and look forward to serving the Canadian public for the long term,” a Flair spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg News while declining to comment on financial details.

Some lenders to Canada’s distressed condo developers are finding they have little choice but to buy the troubled projects they backed and finish the buildings themselves, Bloomberg News reported. As the country faces its biggest wave of receiverships among real estate developments in at least a decade, lenders are going to new lengths to avoid losses.

The number of Canadians filing for personal insolvency keeps on rising, another sign that high interest rates are still taking a big bite out of household finances, experts say, the Toronto Star reported. A total of 34,588 people across Canada filed for insolvency in the third quarter, a jump of 13.5 per cent over the same period a year ago, according to statistics from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. In Ontario, there were 13,140 filings, a jump of 20.2 per cent. Business insolvencies rose 16.2 per cent over the last year nationally, and by 40.2 per cent in Ontario.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday reduced its key benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 3.75%, its first bigger-than-usual move in more than four years, and hailed signs the country has returned to an era of low inflation, Reuters reported. The central bank, which hiked rates to a 20-year high to fight soaring prices, has now cut four times in a row since June. Inflation in September sank to 1.6%, below the 2% target. "Canadians can breathe a sigh of relief. It's a good news story," Governor Tiff Macklem said during a press conference after the rate announcement.

Laurentian University has reported a $37.9-million surplus for the financial year 2023-2024, which ended April 30, Sudbury.com reported. The university’s board of governors approved LU’s 2023-24 financial statements, audited by the financial firm BDO, at the Oct. 18 meeting. You can view these financial statements in the board package. Laurentian’s financial report for the year 2023-2024, which provides commentary on Laurentian’s financial situation, is also included.