Canada’s national pension fund struck its first partnership to build and rent out single-family homes in the U.S., joining a rush to capitalize on a housing shortage, Bloomberg News reported. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will join with Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC, the largest property manager in the U.S., to build and acquire communities of single-family rental properties there, according to a statement Wednesday. CPPIB will own 95% of the $840 million joint venture and Greystar 5%. The surging price of homeownership in the U.S.

Petroleos Mexicanos could end up spending about $1.6 billion to take over Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Deer Park refinery, more than twice the price announced in May, even as its finances are so dismal the government is injecting billions of dollars into the state oil producer, Bloomberg News reported. Pemex, as the company is known, has requested about $1.6 billion to acquire the Houston-area refinery, including a capitalization from Mexico’s National Infrastructure Fund and a bridge loan from commercial banks, according to Pemex documents seen by Bloomberg.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday held its key overnight interest rate unchanged, as expected, and said inflation was broadening even as it warned that the Omicron coronavirus variant has created "renewed uncertainty," Reuters reported The central bank, in a regular rate decision, left its key overnight interest rate at 0.25% and maintained guidance that economic slack would be absorbed in the "middle quarters" of 2022, setting the stage for a first rate hike as soon as April.

Petroleos Mexicanos will sell between $700 million and $1 billion in dollar-denominated bonds as part of a government effort to shore up the state oil giant’s finances, Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio said, Bloomberg News reported. The issuance is part of a government rescue plan announced earlier Monday that includes a $3.5 billion cash injection, which the producer will use to pay down obligations and embark on a series of bond buybacks. The overall deal will result in Pemex’s net debt falling by about $3.5 billion, Yorio said by telephone.

Canada will soon crack down on COVID-19 mandates, forcing banks, telecommunications companies and all other federally regulated workspaces to ensure their employees are inoculated, Ottawa said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan made the announcement two months after the government said it would oblige the public sector and employees working in the federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors to get their shots.

President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. and its allies would meet a military escalation into Ukraine with a series of actions, including strong economic measures, bolstering Ukrainian defenses and fortifying support for Eastern European nations, as allies work together to prevent renewed conflict in Eastern Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than two hours on Tuesday, the leaders held a secure video call to address what the U.S. has described as large and unusual troop movement near Russia’s border with Ukraine in recent weeks. The U.S.

Mexican automotive production and exports fell for the fifth month running in November, figures from the national statistics agency (INEGI) showed on Monday, as ongoing shortages of semiconductors put the brakes on the industry, Reuters reported. Mexican automotive production plunged by 20.25% from November 2020 to 248,960 vehicles, while auto exports declined by 16.46% to 240,341 units, the INEGI data showed. A global semiconductor shortage has prompted automakers in Mexico and the rest of North America to implement rolling shutdowns, curtailing production and hitting workers hard.

Petroleos Mexicanos, the world’s most indebted oil company, will get a $3.5 billion cash injection from the government as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador orders a new business plan for the struggling company, Bloomberg News reported. The state-owned producer will use the funds to pay down obligations and also embark on a series of bond buybacks and new issuance to reduce the cost to service its debt. As part of the initiative, Pemex will also overhaul its five-year business plan, according to a statement released by the company Monday.

Mexican budget airline Interjet plans to resume flights in 2022 with 10 leased Airbus SE airplanes after shutting down a year ago when its already-suffering finances were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, company representatives said on Friday, Reuters reported. The pandemic's toll on the global tourism industry had exacerbated operational and debt problems at Interjet, putting the company on the brink of bankruptcy.

The main trucking lobbies in Canada and the United States are warning that vaccine and testing requirements for workers will further disrupt supply chains because there is already a dire shortage of drivers, Reuters reported. Canada will require vaccines for truck drivers starting in January, while the Biden administration has issued rules requiring truck drivers at companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. More than two-thirds of goods traded between Canada and the United States travels on roads and highways.