The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and signaled it is still leaning toward eventual reductions in borrowing costs, but that cuts could be delayed as recent inflation numbers have strayed further from its two per cent target. Indeed, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said it was likely to take longer than previously expected for Fed officials … Read more
Nearly nine million Canadians lived in food insecure households in 2022, with 22.9 per cent of the population reporting some form of food insecurity, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday. The data agency wrote in its annual Canadian Income Survey that 8.7 million people lived in households that reported some kind of food insecurity. … Read more
Lightspeed Commerce is cutting about 280 jobs, less than two months after its founder returned to the helm of the Montreal-based technology company. After integrating the company’s many acquisitions, “Lightspeed is now entering a new phase, one focused on profitable growth to capture the opportunity in front of us,” said founder and chief executive Dax Dasilva. … Read more
The Bank of Canada says business and consumer sentiment improved during the first quarter of the year, despite higher interest rates still putting a drag on the economy. The central bank on Monday released its business outlook and consumer expectations surveys, which showed increased optimism as people expect interest rate cuts are nearing. Although firms … Read more
A senior Bank of Canada official says the need to improve productivity has reached an emergency level as the economy faces a future where inflation may be more of a threat than in the past few decades. In a speech, senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers says an economy with low productivity can only grow so … Read more
The Bank of Canada has held its key interest rate at five per cent again, saying that it’s still too soon to consider rate cuts while underlying inflation persists. Economists were widely expecting the central bank to hold the rate. The bank said in a note on its website that it was still concerned about underlying inflation, which strips … Read more
The Bank of Canada is trying to thread a needle. It’s keeping rates higher for longer at least in part because it’s worried a rate cut now could undermine the last two years of pain and progress. “We don’t want to keep monetary policy this restrictive for longer than we have to. But nor do … Read more
Today, the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and the First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC) announced the signing of a $100-million deal to help Indigenous communities borrow money to build infrastructure. For decades, Indigenous leaders and business experts have said limited access to affordable loans with flexible terms have held back important development projects in Indigenous communities … Read more
The Canadian government has launched a crackdown on Mexican nationals visiting Canada. Senior federal government sources told Radio-Canada that a series of visa requirements on Mexican nationals will be reinforced. The new rules, which will see all Mexican nationals requiring a visa to enter Canada, were put in place on Thursday this week. The limitations … Read more
The Canadian economy continues to beat recession fears, posting modest growth in the fourth quarter even as high interest rates weighed on consumers and businesses. Statistics Canada reported Thursday that real gross domestic product increased by an annualized rate of one per cent, beating economists’ expectations and the Bank of Canada’s forecast for the final … Read more
