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.
Financial
- The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced on March 10th it had taken possession of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) of California, citing inadequate liquidity and insolvency. Also on March 10th, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced that following the closure of SVB, and to protect insured depositors, it had created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara (DINB) and that all insured depositors would have full access to their insured deposits. The FDIC said the DINB would maintain SVB's normal business hours. On March 12th, Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced it had taken temporary control of the assets of the Canadian branch of SVB and on March 15th, said the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted a winding up order in respect of SVB's Canadian branch to facilitate an orderly transition of the Canadian branch to the FDIC Bridge Bank. On March 26th, the FDIC announced it had entered into a purchase and assumption agreement for all deposits and loans of SVB by First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company of North Carolina. The FDIC said the transaction included the purchase of about USD $72 billion of SVB's assets at a discount of USD $16.5 billion.
- The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced on March 12th that Signature Bank of New York was closed by the New York State Department of Financial Services, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. The FDIC said that it had transferred all the deposits and substantially all of the assets of Signature Bank to Signature Bridge Bank, N.A., a full-service bank that will be operated by the FDIC as it markets the institution to potential bidders.
- The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announced on March 12th that it will make available additional funding to eligible depository institutions to help assure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors. The Federal Reserve said it is prepared to address any liquidity pressures that may arise and that the additional funding will be made available through the creation of a new Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP), which will offer loans of up to one year in length to banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other eligible depository institutions pledging U.S. Treasuries, agency debt and mortgage-backed securities, and other qualifying assets as collateral.
- California-based First Republic Bank announced on March 12th it had further enhanced and diversified its financial position through access to additional liquidity from the Federal Reserve Bank and JPMorgan Chase & Co. On March 16th, First Republic announced it will receive uninsured deposits totaling USD $30 billion from Bank of America Corporation, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., State Street Corporation, Truist Financial Corporation, and U.S. Bancorp.
- Switzerland-based Credit Suisse Group AG announced on March 19th that it and UBS Group AG had entered into a merger agreement, with UBS being the surviving entity, following the intervention of the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, the Swiss National Bank, and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). Credit Suisse said the transaction reflects a merger consideration of CHF 3 billion for all shares in Credit Suisse and that the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.
- The Bank of Canada announced on March 19th that it, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank were coordinating action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements and that the banks currently offering U.S. dollar operations had agreed to increase the frequency of 7-day maturity operations from weekly to daily. The Bank of Canada said the daily operations would commence on March 20, 2023 and would continue at least through the end of April.
Resources
- Calgary-based Suncor Energy Inc. announced it had entered into a share purchase agreement with Equinor UK Limited for the sale of Suncor Energy UK Limited, which includes Suncor's non-operated offshore interests in the North Sea, for approximately $1.2 billion. Suncor said the transaction is expected to close in mid-2023, subject to closing adjustments typical of transactions of this nature.
- The Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation of Calgary, partners in the proposed Cedar LNG Project, announced that Cedar LNG had received its Environmental Assessment Certificate from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, and had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ARC Resources Ltd. for a long-term liquefaction services agreement. The partners said that Cedar LNG is a proposed floating liquified natural gas facility located in Kitimat, B.C. with the capacity to export three million tonnes per year of LNG. The partners said a final investment decision for the Project is anticipated in the third quarter of 2023.
Retail
- Seattle, Washington-based Nordstrom, Inc. announced it intends to wind down its Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores across Canada and its Canada e-commerce platform and that the in-store wind-down is anticipated to be completed by late June 2023. The company said that Nordstrom Canada operates six Nordstrom stores and seven Nordstrom Rack stores, as well as the Nordstrom.ca website, and employs approximately 2,500 people.
- Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. announced it had agreed to a firm and irrevocable offer to acquire 100% of France-based TotalEnergies retail assets in Germany and the Netherlands as well as 60% controlling interest in the Belgium and Luxembourg entities for approximately €3.1 billion. The company said that if the offer is accepted by TotalEnergies, it is expected to be complete before the end of 2023, subject to an information and consultation process and the approval of relevant authorities.
Manufacturing
- Germany-based Volkswagen Group announced that it and its battery company PowerCo had selected St. Thomas, Ontario to establish Volkswagen's first overseas gigafactory for cell manufacturing. Volkswagen said production is planned to start in 2027.
Other news
- The Bank of Canada held its target for the overnight rate at 4.50%. The last change in the target for the overnight rate was a 25 basis points increase in January 2023. The bank said it is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
- On March 10th, the Government of Canada announced it was banning the import of Russian aluminum and steel products through regulatory amendments under the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations.
- The Government of Canada announced that effective March 17th, air travellers to Canada on flights originating from the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong or Macao will no longer be required to provide evidence of a COVID-19 test result before boarding. The Government said this means that there will no longer be any federal COVID-19 border measures in place after that time.
- The Government of Canada announced on March 27th it had extended temporary measures introduced during the COVID-19 Pandemic and through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) Workforce Solutions Road Map, which include:
- permitting employers in seven sectors with demonstrated labour shortages (such as accommodation and food services, construction, and food manufacturing) to hire up to 30% of their workforce through the TFWP for low-wage positions;
- keeping the Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA) validity period at up to 18 months; and
- maintaining the maximum duration of employment for low-wage positions at up to two years.
- On March 28th, the Government of Canada released Budget 2023, which included investments in health and dental care, the clean economy and fighting climate change, housing and housing affordability, and targeted inflation relief. The Government projects a $40.1 billion deficit for 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 0.3% in 2023.
- On March 2nd, the Government of Yukon tabled its 2023-24 Budget, which included investments in transportation infrastructure, land development, housing, education, healthcare, climate change initiatives, as well as community and First Nations infrastructure. The Government projects a $48.2 million surplus in 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 5.4% in 2023.
- On March 7th, the Government of Yukon announced an extension of the $150 Inflation Relief Rebate on electricity bills, and that all non-government resident and commercial electricity customers will see a $50 credit on their bills over March, April, and May. The Government said this rebate is provided in addition to the ongoing Interim Electrical Rebate, which provides residential customers a rebate for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours of power used each month.
- On March 7th, the Government of Manitoba tabled Budget 2023, which included investments in health care, addressing violent crime and homelessness, education, as well as a personal income tax reduction. The Government projects a $363 million deficit in 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 0.7% in 2023.
- On March 21st, the Government of Quebec tabled Budget 2023-2024, which included investments in health care, education, infrastructure, addressing the labour shortage, improving housing affordability, and fighting climate change, as well as income and business tax cuts. The Government projects a $4 billion deficit in 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 0.6% in 2023.
- On March 21st, the Government of New Brunswick tabled its 2023-2024 budget, which included investments in health, education, supporting vulnerable populations, housing, and safe communities. The Government projects a $40.3 million surplus in 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 0.8% in 2023.
- On March 22nd, the Government of Saskatchewan tabled its 2023-24 Provincial Budget, which included investments in health care, education, social services and assistance, public safety and the justice system, and infrastructure. The Government projects a $1.0 billion surplus in 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 1.3% in 2023.
- On March 23rd, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador released Budget 2023, which included investments in health care, infrastructure, affordable housing, and childcare. The Government projects a $160 million deficit in 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 2.8% in 2023.
- On March 23rd, the Government of Nova Scotia tabled Budget 2023-24, which included investments in health care, infrastructure, skilled trades, education, affordable housing, and child care. The Government estimates a $278.9 million deficit for 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 0.6% for 2023.
- On March 23rd, the Government of Ontario released its 2023 Budget, which included investments in health care, mental health and addictions services, infrastructure, and skills training. The Government projects a $1.3 billion deficit in 2023-2024 and real GDP growth of 0.2% in 2023.
- The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced amendments to the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act's accompanying Regulations, which included:
- Enabling more work permit holders to purchase a home to live in while working in Canada;
- Repealing existing provision so the prohibition doesn't apply to vacant land;
- Exception for development purposes that allows non-Canadians to purchase residential property for the purpose of development; and
- Increasing the corporation foreign control threshold from 3% to 10%.
- Mississauga-based Purolator Inc. announced it expects to invest approximately $1 billion to electrify its Canadian network over the next seven years, including plans to purchase more than 3,500 fully electric last-mile delivery vehicles and the electrification of more than 60 terminals across Canada.
United States and other international news
- The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 4.75% to 5.00% and said that some additional policy firming may be appropriate. The last change in the target range was a 25 basis points increase in February 2023. 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) raised the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.50% (main refinancing operations), 3.75% (marginal lending facility), and 3.00% (deposit facility). The last change in these rates was a 50 basis points increase in February 2023. The ECB also said the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) portfolio is declining and that the decline will amount to €15 billion per month on average until the end of June 2023 and its subsequent pace will be determined over time. The ECB also said it intends to reinvest the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) until at least the end of 2024.
- The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to increase the Bank Rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%. The last change in the Bank Rate was a 50 basis points increase in February 2023.
- The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee of Norway's Norges Bank raised the policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.00%. At its last meeting in January, the Committee left the policy rate unchanged.
- 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 25 basis points to 3.60%. The last change in the target for the cash rate was a 25 basis points increase in February 2023.
- California-based Meta Platforms, Inc. announced that over the next couple of months it expects to reduce its team size by around 10,000 people and close to 5,000 additional open roles that it hasn't yet hired.
- Seattle, Washington-based Amazon.com, Inc. announced it intended to eliminate about 9,000 positions in the next few weeks, mostly in Amazon Web Services, People Experience and Technology Solutions, Advertising, and Twitch.
Financial market news
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at USD $75.67 per barrel on March 31st, down from a closing value of USD $77.05 at the end of February. Western Canadian Select crude oil traded in the USD $45 to $60 per barrel range throughout March. The Canadian dollar closed at 73.89 cents U.S. on March 31st, up from 73.48 cents U.S. at the end of February. The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 20,099.89 on March 31st, down from 20,221.19 at the end of February.