Canada

Canadian consumer prices grew at the slowest pace in more than three years, tilting the odds in favor of a half percentage point cut by the Bank of Canada next week, Bloomberg News reported. The consumer price index rose 1.6% in September from a year ago, following a 2% increase a month earlier, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday in Ottawa. That’s slower than the median estimate of 1.8% in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The Bank of Canada’s business and consumer surveys showed inflation expectations normalizing and few firms planning to hire or invest in the face of weak demand, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank’s business outlook indicator rose slightly to minus 2.3 in the third quarter, from minus 2.9 previously. Firms’ outlook for future sales also improved as fewer saw their orders, advanced bookings and sales inquiries decrease.

Governor Tiff Macklem announced plans to reorganize the Bank of Canada’s governance structure by adding a second outsider to its main policy-making body, expanding the number of officials involved in setting interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. The Ottawa-based central bank plans to increase the size of its governing council to seven from six by creating another external deputy governor position. Nicolas Vincent — who was the first to take one of these part-time, shorter-duration contracts — will also have his term extended to March 2026.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said he’s pleased inflation is back to the central bank’s 2% target but he wants to see more easing in core measures and shelter prices, Bloomberg News reported.

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.