This module provides a concise summary of selected Canadian economic events, as well as international and financial market developments by calendar month. It is intended to provide contextual information only to support users of the economic data published by Statistics Canada. In identifying major events or developments, Statistics Canada is not suggesting that these have a material impact on the published economic data in a particular reference month.
All information presented here is obtained from publicly available news and information sources, and does not reflect any protected information provided to Statistics Canada by survey respondents.
Selected COVID-19 responses
- On July 4th, the Government of Nova Scotia announced it would remove all remaining COVID-19 restrictions in the community on July 6th. The Government said that most restrictions in high-risk settings would remain in place.
- On July 14th, the Government of Canada announced that random COVID-19 testing would resume as of July 19th for travellers who qualify as fully vaccinated, arriving in Canada by air to the four major Canadian airports, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto. The Government said that all testing for air travellers, for both those who qualify as fully vaccinated and partially or unvaccinated people, would be completed outside of airports.
- On July 14th, the Government of Yukon announced it was lifting its remaining vaccine requirements for workers, volunteers, and contractors working in high-risk settings.
- On July 14th, the Government of Prince Edward Island announced that its legal order requiring seven days of isolation of positive cases of COVID-19 and masks in high-risk settings, including hospitals, long-term care, and community care homes, would remain in place to reduce transmission throughout the province.
Resources
- On July 18th, Calgary-based TC Energy Corporation announced that a non-operational incident had occurred resulting from third-party damage to the power supply to a facility on the Keystone Pipeline System near Huron, South Dakota, and that force majeure had been declared. TC Energy said that as a result, Keystone was operating at a reduced rate. On July 23rd, TC Energy announced that it had resumed normal operations of the Keystone Pipeline System.
- Vancouver-based Paper Excellence Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Domtar Corporation, and Resolute Forest Products Inc. of Montreal announced they had entered into an agreement under which Domtar will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Resolute stock for cash consideration representing an enterprise value of approximately USD $2.7 billion. The companies said the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to stockholder and regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions.
- The Government of Canada announced on July 22nd that the federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers of Agriculture reached an agreement in principle for the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which includes stronger targets such as a 3-5 MT reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, increasing sector competitiveness, revenue and exports, and increased participation of Indigenous People, women, and youth, as well as a focus on measuring the results of framework investments. The Government said Ministers agreed to continue to work together and with the sector's value chain to build on producer's efforts to reduce fertilizer-related emissions.
Manufacturing
- The Government of Canada announced that Belgium-based Umicore plans to invest $1.5 billion to establish a net-zero facility in Loyalist Township, Ontario, to produce components of electric vehicle batteries. The Government said the plan will create 1,000 jobs during construction and hundreds of permanent positions. Umicore said it is targeting to start construction in 2023 and operations at the end of 2025.
- Calgary-based Inter Pipeline Ltd. announced it had successfully commissioned its polypropylene (PP) plant and had begun initial production. The company said the entire Heartland Complex remains on schedule for an integrated start-up in the third quarter of this year, at which point Heartland will begin commercial production.
- The Government of Canada and the Government of the United States announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to settle a dispute on trade in solar products under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) following a CUSMA panel finding that the prior United States Administration's decision to include imports from Canada in the solar safeguard measure was inconsistent with certain CUSMA rules.
Transportation
- Toronto-based Porter Airlines Inc. announced it had placed a firm order for 20 Embraer E195-E2 passenger jets, adding to its existing 30 firm orders. Porter said first delivery and entry into service is scheduled starting in the second half of 2022.
- Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Company (CN) announced on July 4th that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) had agreed to binding arbitration, bringing the strike to an end. CN said employees in Signals and Communications would return to their roles on July 6th.
Other news
- The Bank of Canada increased its target for the overnight rate by 100 basis points to 2.50%. The last change in the target for the overnight rate was a 50 basis points increase in June 2022.
- On July 13th, TD Canada Trust, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank, BMO Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), and Laurentian Bank of Canada announced they were increasing their Canadian prime lending rate by 100 basis points from 3.70% to 4.70%, effective July 14, 2022.
- Florida-based DigitalBridge Group, Inc. announced that funds affiliated with its investment management arm together with Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. of Toronto had reached an agreement to acquirer a 51% ownership stake in GD Towers, the mobile telecommunications tower business of Deutsche Telekom AG of Germany for USD $17.5 billion, on a consolidated basis, including the assumption of net debt. DigitalBridge said the transaction is expected to close in late 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
- Export Development Canada (EDC) announced two new sector specific climate targets for its business portfolio that includes:
- Airlines achieving a 37% reduction in emissions per passenger kilometre from EDC's airlines financing portfolio by 2030; and
- Upstream oil and gas achieving a 15% reduction in EDCs financing portfolio related to upstream oil and gas production by 2030, and a 3% shift in the composition of that production from oil to gas.
- Toronto-based Rogers Communications Inc. announced it would physically separate its wireless and internet networks at a cost of at least $250 million and that it would spend $100 billion over the next three years to build out and strengthen its network, including additional oversight, more testing, and greater use of Artificial Intelligence.
- Edmonton-based Capital Power Corporation announced it had partnered with Manulife Investment Management of Toronto to acquire 100% of the interests in MCV Holding Company, which owns the Midland Cogeneration Venture in Michigan, for a total of USD $894 million, including the assumption of project level debt. Capital Power said the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
- Ottawa-based Shopify Inc. announced it was reducing its workforce by about 10%, with most of the impacted roles in recruiting, support, and sales.
United States and other international news
- The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 75 bps to 2.25% to 2.50% and said it anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate. The last change in the target range was a 75 basis points increase in June 2022. The Committee also said it will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities.
- The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that (i) it had decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points and that the rates on the main refinancing operations, the marginal lending facility, and the deposit facility will increase to 0.50%, 0.75% and 0.00%, respectively; (ii) it would continue reinvesting, in full, the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the asset purchase programme (APP) for an extended period of time; and (iii) it intends to reinvest the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) until at least the end of 2024.
- The Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced it will apply a negative interest rate of -0.1% to the Policy-Rate Balances in current accounts held by financial institutions at the BoJ and that it will purchase a necessary amount of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) without setting an upper limit so that 10-year JGB yields will remain at around zero percent.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increased the target for the cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.35%. The last change in the target for the cash rate was a 50 basis points increase in June 2022.
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) increased the Official Cash Rate (OCR), its main policy rate, by 50 basis points to 2.5%. The last change in the OCR was a 50 basis points increase in May 2022.
- Washington State-based Amazon.com, Inc and One Medical of California announced they had entered into a definitive agreement under which Amazon will acquire One Medical in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately USD $3.9 billion, including One Medical's net debt. Amazon said completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including shareholder and regulatory approval.
Financial market news
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at USD $98.62 per barrel on July 29th, down from a closing value of USD $105.76 at the end of June. Western Canadian Select crude oil traded in the USD $80 to $95 per barrel range throughout July. The Canadian dollar closed at 77.98 cents U.S. on July 29th, up from 77.60 cents U.S. at the end of June. The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 19,692.92 on July 29th, up from 18,861.36 at the end of June.