All Economy stories

Canadian travellers enjoy their last hurrah

Canadians are booking their summer getaways in record numbers, but the good times may be coming to an end.

Per a new RBC report, dwindling savings and the rising cost of debt will force many middle-and-low-income earners to start pulling back on travel plans by next year.  

Stellantis subsidies could surpass VW’s

Stellantis looked at the subsidies Volkswagen was offered for its Ontario electric vehicle (EV)  battery plant—the total could end up hitting $13 billion—and said, “Hold my beer.” 

Stellantis and its partner-in-battery-making LG Energy Solution stand to rake in up to $19 billion in subsidies for their EV battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, according to analysis from Johns Hopkins University professor Bentley Allan.

A tale of two job markets complicates the labour story

We’ve all heard plenty about Canada’s labour shortage by now, but a new StatsCan report shows that understanding the state of the job market is way more complicated than counting the number of “help wanted” signs. 

There were 856,000 job vacancies in Canada by the end of last year and about 49,000 more people than that looking for work, according to the StatCan analysis.

The last hurdle for the debt ceiling deal

Breathe a sigh of relief: We have a debt ceiling deal. But this long saga that none of us asked for isn’t quite over yet. 

What happened: President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck a deal to raise the debt ceiling over the weekend, but it still needs to be approved by Congress—and that’s no sure thing.

We’re number one (in debt)

Sometimes, being number one isn’t anything to brag about—take Canada’s household debt situation, for example.

Canada tops the G7 when it comes to household debt as a share of GDP, according to a recently released report by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corp.

Ontario clears path for foreign-trained engineers

Becoming an engineer in Ontario just got easier (you know, aside from all the math). 

Engineers trained abroad will no longer need Canadian experience to get their engineering licence in Ontario. It’s part of a broader push in the country’s largest province to make it easier for skilled immigrants to work in their respective fields. 

Sunny with a chance of rate hikes

It was fun while it lasted, but Bank of Canada (BoC) Governor Tiff Macklem may end his “conditional pause” era sooner than we all expected.

Driving the news: Several big-name economists at Scotiabank, Capital Economics, and CitiGroup predict that the BoC will hike interest rates by a quarter-point at its June 7 meeting—breaking with a consensus view that a pause would be maintained at 4.5%.

America inches closer to default

While much of Canada spent Victoria Day playing spike ball in the park or drinking White Claws on the dock, America spent another 24 hours on the verge of a default. 

Driving the news: With as few as ten days left to prevent a US debt default, talks between President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy failed to produce a solution to the looming debt ceiling breach (the limit on what the US can borrow to pay its bills). 

Inflation is going the wrong way

Some surprises are good, like a b-day party or finding a $20 bill in your coat. Others are less good, like a cancelled reservation or a blister. Recent inflation data is one of those surprises.

What used cars tell us about the future of the economy

The Bank of Canada is determined to crush inflation, but that doesn’t mean prices are going back to pre-pandemic levels. For proof, look no further than the used car market.

Driving the news: Prices in the used car market aren’t going up anymore, but they aren’t coming down much from pandemic-era heights, according to the latest data from Canadian Black Book.