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Source: Michael Coghlan / Wikimedia Commons.
Canada’s competition watchdog is looking to regain its mojo after face-planting in its attempt to block a merger between Rogers and Shaw last year.
What happened: The Competition Bureau issued a report warning that Bunge’s impending US$8.2 billion acquisition of fellow agriculture company Viterra will seriously reduce competition in Canada’s agricultural sector, particularly in the grain and canola oil markets.
- The merger would create a massive new entity worth ~$34 billion and further consolidate processing and trading in an already heavily consolidated sector.
- The bureau also alleges it would create a conflict of interest as Bunge is a minority shareholder in grain facility operator G3 Global Holdings, a top Viterra competitor.
Why it matters: Canada’s competition laws have come under fire for being too soft on monopolies. If the feds take up the bureau's complaint and challenge the Bunge-Viterra merger, it will be an early test of how recent changes meant to modernize the Competition Act and better promote competition will fare.
- In December, the bureau was granted more power to get information, and a controversial legal mechanism called the “efficiency defence” for companies defending mergers was eliminated.
Big picture: Competitiveness in the Canadian business landscape declined between 2000 and 2020, per the bureau, causing more concentration and, potentially, higher prices. As the feds look to claw back this trend, more changes to competition laws are on the way.—QH
Source: Sara Kurfeß / Unsplash.
Spotify posts a record quarter. Sweden’s third-coolest claim to fame behind meatballs and Abba turned its biggest quarterly profit in the company’s history, even as subscriber growth stalled amid cost-cutting. To put things into perspective, Spotify reported a net income of €197 million last quarter. In the same period last year, it lost €225 million. (Financial Times)
Equifax trials adding rent data to credit scores. Equifax Canada is testing ways to incorporate rental payments into credit scores, a move that could make it easier for renters to secure lower-interest loans. In last week's federal budget, Ottawa called on banks and credit bureaus to work on tools that would enable this change. (CTV News)
Tesla to race out new models. Slowing demand for EVs worldwide and more competition from brands in China and the U.S. hit Tesla’s bottom line last quarter, with net profit reaching US$1.13 billion, down from $2.51 billion a year ago. Still, Tesla (or Musk, really) has a way of riling up investors: The company says it's pushing to launch new EVs. (Reuters)—LA
Source: Paul Hanoaka / Unsplash.
Break out the bottle of Screech and reel in a kissable cod because Newfoundland has a new resident: Uber.
What happened: Uber is now servicing St. John’s, Newfoundland's largest city, and the accompanying Avalon Peninsula area. It is the first ride-sharing company to operate on the Rock since the province updated its Highway Traffic Act late last year to support such services.
- Locals and tourists have complained for years about the lack of transport options as the number of registered taxis in the province fell by 25% between 2018 and 2022.
- Uber operates in over 140 municipalities in Canada. With Newfoundland joining the fold, P.E.I. is now the only province without Uber (though it does have ridesharing).
Why it matters: For city-dwellers, it’s easy to forget that Uber isn’t a daily facet of life for all of the country, with less than half of Canada’s population (19 million people) having access to Uber. Recent entrances into once off-limits markets like St. John’s and Victoria — which happened last June — signal that Uber really could eventually be pretty much everywhere.
Big picture: There were 135,000 working-age Canadians employed as ride-share drivers in 2023, 48.1% more than there were in 2022, a sign of growing demand for services like Uber. As car ownership becomes too expensive for many, demand could grow further.—QH
Source: National Cancer Institute / Unsplash.
Some parents might be less than thrilled when they find out their kid's perfect grade on a biology midterm was more of a participation trophy.
Driving the news: A group of grade 12 students at Ontario’s St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School walked out of their biology and business midterms with perfect grades as the school board grapples with a teacher shortage that has left classes without full-time educators.
- Experts say that the length and cost of education programs are one factor driving the shortage, while others point to a lack of incentives for teachers to fill open vacancies.
- Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said sick days are also part of the problem, with teachers taking an average of 16 days of sick leave alone per school year.
Why it matters: A larger teacher shortage affecting school boards across the country has forced some schools to not just hand out grades, but cancel courses, cut back on special education programs, and enlist people without any educational training to teach classes.
Zoom out: Students have been left at a disadvantage, particularly those in older grades who require certain credits to get into university and college. Plus, with grading still inflated from the pandemic era, it’s gotten harder to stand out to competitive post-secondary schools.—LA
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