Canada unexpectedly lost 2,800 jobs in July, according to Statistics Canada.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of the Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more.
Canadian labour market stalls as youth, newcomers struggle to find work
Canada unexpectedly lost 2,800 jobs in July and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.4 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. The latest data show continuing slack in the labour market, which should keep the Bank of Canada on course for another interest rate cut next month, Mark Rendell reports. Young people and newcomers are being hit disproportionately by weakness in the labour market. The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 hit 14.2 per cent in July, while the rate for recent immigrants (people who arrived in Canada within the last five years) rose to 12.6 per cent. Financial markets expect the Bank of Canada to cut its policy rate by another quarter-percentage-point on Sept. 4, with traders looking for additional cuts in October and December.
Loblaw’s health care empire is growing. But can it earn the trust of Canadian patients?
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. has large ambitions to expand its health care business. After buying Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. more than a decade ago, the grocery giant’s goals have since grown far beyond owning Canada’s largest drugstore chain. In fact, they plan to become one of Canada’s largest health care providers. But critics question whether a corporate behemoth such as Loblaw should be permitted to play a larger role in that system. The grocer worked to rebuild public trust when it drew the ire of many consumers feeling the pain of once-in-a-generation inflation in food prices, but can it now earn the trust of Canadian patients? Susan Krashinsky Robertson and Chris Hannay report on Loblaw’s plan to grow its health care empire.
Decoder: Amid an uneasy calm, markets remain on edge over future moves
It was a wild week in markets, from unnerving U.S. jobs data to bursting tech bubbles to the implosion of complex currency bets. Calm has started to return, but markets remain on edge over what comes next. The CBOE VIX index, which tracks the stock market’s expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index options, posted its largest-ever intraday jump and closed at its highest since early 2020 on Monday. The VIX is the most-watched gauge of investor anxiety. Since then, stock markets have clawed back most of their losses from Monday, but for now, uncertainty abounds. Jason Kirby takes a closer look at the figures in this week’s Decoder.
U.S. property giant Hines has $2-billion to shop for housing development projects in Canada
A U.S. real estate giant is looking to invest up to $2-billion in Canada. Hines Interests LP is looking mostly at land in major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, where the company can develop apartment rental units, Rachelle Younglai reports. The Houston-headquartered firm, which owns and manages about 850 properties in 30 countries, would reportedly develop rental-only buildings instead of single-family homes or townhomes. The privately-owned company has been sitting on this fund for about two years. It also has $650-million in equity, and the ability to borrow more to boost its buying power. “It’s a matter of whether it’s worth our time,” Avi Tesciuba, Hines co-head of Canada, said in a recent interview.
Ottawa signals tougher rules for Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Ottawa says it is mulling whether to block employers in certain regions and industries from accessing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Employment and Social Development Canada convened a meeting with business groups earlier this week, but declined to share which business groups attended the meeting. Since 2022, Ottawa has allowed companies in most industries to fill up to 20 per cent of their positions through the low-wage stream of the TFW program. Employers in the hospitality and retail industries can use the program to hire certain low-wage occupations when local unemployment rates are 6 per cent and higher. But many economists criticized the policies over the potential for wage suppression and exploitation of foreign workers, who have weaker labour rights than permanent residents and Canadians, Matt Lundy reports.
TD introduces fractional trading on its investing platform
Toronto-Dominion Bank’s online investing platform launched “fractional trading” this week, Salmaan Farooqui reports. Fractional trading allows investors to buy a small portion of a stock that may sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars, so they can add a company to their portfolio without having to shell out the full amount for a single share. TD will begin by offering roughly 2,000 stocks and ETFs in Canada and the United States to be traded in fractional shares, and plans to increase that number to 4,000. TD is one of the first Canadian banks to offer the fractional trading, but Wealthsimple Inc. was the first platform to offer fractional trading in Canada back in 2021.
Take our business quiz for the week of August 9
d. 1987. The Nikkei’s crash was part of a selling frenzy in stock markets around the globe. The Nikkei did recover part of its losses later in the week.
Get the rest of the questions from the weekly business and investing news quiz here, and prepare for the week ahead with The Globe’s investing calendar.