Economy
While Calgary’s unemployment numbers remain the highest among major Canadian centres, the city’s workforce continues to show strength, say those who oversee its economic fortunes.
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Read MoreMore than a quarter of Atlantic startups that receive federal subsidies fail within five years, says a federal briefing note. The disclosure follows a 2020 audit that faulted the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency for failing to conduct risk assessments on companies applying for taxpayers’ aid.
“The business survival rate for Agency-assisted startups is 73 percent,” said the briefing note Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Management said it compared favourably to a 33 percent survival rate “for unassisted firms after the crucial fifth year following startup.”
Subsidies averaged $230,135 in grants and loans per successful applicant, said the November 30 note. “On average each year the Agency assisted 971 businesses,” it said.
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Read MoreMore than half of Canadians say they are $200 away or less from not being able to pay all of their bills at the end of the month, a report by insolvency firm MNP Ltd. said, as higher interest rates and a rising cost of living have stretched budgets.
At 52 per cent, that’s up six percentage points from the proportion of Canadians who said the same in April.
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The escalating burden of household bills and food prices has intensified Canadians’ financial anxiety and is further compounded by increased debt-servicing costs, particularly for those who are deeply indebted, MNP president Grant Bazian said in a press release Monday.
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Read MoreThe Dutch government collapsed on July 7 after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration, which will trigger new elections in the fall. Tensions came to a head last week, when Mr. Rutte demanded support for a proposal to limit the entrance of children of war refugees who are already in the Netherlands and to make families wait at least two years before they can be reunited. The proposal went too far for the small Christian Union and liberal D66, triggering a stalemate.
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Read MoreRadically different outlooks of four parties on immigration ‘unbridgeable’, says four-time prime minister
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has presented his government’s written resignation to King Willem-Alexander, who returned from holiday to receive it.
It was Rutte’s fourth government – a fragile, four-party coalition of his People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the liberal democratic Democrats 66, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and centrist ChristenUnie. It took 10 months to agree its formation and it lasted less than 18 months.
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Read MoreCabinet yesterday approved billions more subsidies for battery factories in what the Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized as a free for all for foreign automakers. Aid totals more than $31 billion for three Ontario plants.
“The feds need to draw the line somewhere,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Taxpayers’ Federation. “Taxpayers can’t afford to bankroll everyone and their dog who wants to make batteries.”
The Department of Finance confirmed it would spend billions in “performance incentives” for Stellantis electric auto battery plants in Windsor and Brampton, Ont. Stellantis is the parent company of Chrysler and Dodge.
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Read MoreBen and Jerry’s parent company Unilever has lost about US$2.5 billion in market capital after people said they would boycott it for opposing the Fourth of July.
Unilever’s shares fell by .75% after its latest trading day, according to the Thursday data, which shows the company’s stock price has fallen to $51.31. It said its day range was from $51.04 to $51.40.
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Read MoreThe federal government appears to believe the economic pie is fixed and can only be redistributed, ignoring the fact that wealth and value can be created when government steps back and frees businesses to flourish.
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Read MoreA new Research Co. poll said fewer Albertans are openly welcoming the concept of outright sovereignty by leaving Canada.
In the online survey of a representative provincial sample, only 22% of Albertans agree with the idea of Alberta becoming a country independent from Canada, down three points since a similar Research Co. survey was conducted in February 2021.
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Read MoreHigher prices for basic groceries like cabbage and spaghetti are running at three and four times the rate of general inflation, new Statistics Canada figures showed yesterday. Details of price spikes for specific foods followed cabinet’s celebration of the last Consumer Price Index report as “good news for Canadians,” said Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
“Inflation in Canada is down to 3.4 percent, the lowest rate in nearly two years,” Minister Freeland tweeted June 27. “This is good news for Canadians and good news for the Canadian economy!”
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