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.
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- Vancouver-based Canfor Corporation announced the closure of its Plateau and Fort St. John operations in northern British Columbia. Canfor said the closures will impact approximately 500 employees and will remove 670 million board feet of annual production from the B.C. operations. Canfor also said that the wind down of operations is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
- In a separate statement, Canfor announced it will indefinitely curtail one shift at its Darlington facility in South Carolina, reduce operating hours at its Estill, South Carolina and Moultrie, Georgia locations, and implement curtailments across other southern U.S. operations. Canfor said these changes will reduce production by approximately 215 million board feet on an annualized basis.
- The Government of Canada announced it will challenge, under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to increase softwood lumber duties.
- Vancouver-based First Majestic Silver Corp. and Gatos Silver, Inc. announced they had entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which First Majestic will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Gatos for a total implied equity value of approximately USD $970 million. First Majestic said the transaction is expected to close in early 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including shareholder approval, clearance under Mexican anti-trust laws, and approval of the listing of the First Majestic common shares to be issued under the transaction on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
- Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia-based Conuma Resources announced that mining operations at its Quintette coal mine had resumed after 24 years of care and maintenance.
- The Government of Ontario announced that it and Wataynikaneyap (Watay) Power were advancing the second phase of the Watay Power Transmission Project. The Government said that approximately 1,800 kilometres of transmission line are being built by Watay Power Transmission Project through a government loan of up to $1.34 billion for the project's construction costs and that once built, the Watay transmission line will connect more than 18,000 people in 16 remote communities.
Manufacturing
- Vancouver-based Methanex Corporation announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Netherlands-based OCI Global's international methanol business, including OCI's interest in two methanol facilities in Texas and a currently idled methanol facility in the Netherlands, for USD $2.05 billion. Methanex said the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to Regulatory and shareholder approval and other closing conditions including TSX approval for the issuance of Methanex shares to OCI.
Other news
- The Bank of Canada reduced its target for the overnight rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%. The last change in the target for the overnight rate was a 25 basis points cut in July 2024. The Bank also said it is continuing its policy of balance sheet normalization.
- The Government of Canada announced a suite of reforms to mortgage rules, including increasing the $1 million price cap for insured mortgages to $1.5 million and expanding eligibility for 30 year mortgage amortizations to all first-time homebuyers and to all buyers of new builds. The Government said both are effective December 15, 2024.
- The Government of Canada announced additional measures to manage the volume of temporary resident arrivals, including:
- Announcing a further reduction in the intake cap on international student study permits for 2025;
- Updating the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program this fall;
- Limiting work permit eligibility, later this year, to spouses of master's degree students to only those whose program is at least 16 months in duration; and
- Limiting work permit eligibility later this year to spouses of foreign workers in management or professional occupations or in sectors with labour shortages.
- The Northwest Territories' minimum wage increased from $16.05 to $16.70 per hour on September 1st.
- Montreal-based BCE Inc. announced it had reached an agreement to sell its ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) to Rogers Communications Inc. of Toronto for $4.7 billion. BCE said the transaction is expected to close in mid-2025, subject to relevant sports league and other customary approvals.
- On September 30th, the Port of Montreal announced that a partial strike affecting the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals had begun at 7:00 a.m. and would continue until October 3rd, at 6:59 a.m.
United States and other international news
- On September 28th, United States President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that major disasters exist in the States of Florida and North Carolina and ordered Federal aid to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Helene beginning on September 23rd and continuing.
- The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lowered the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.75% to 5.00%. The last change in the target range was a 25 basis points increase in July 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) lowered the deposit facility by 25 basis points to 3.50%. The ECB also set the spread between the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the deposit facility rate at 15 basis points and left the spread between the rate on the marginal lending facility and the rate on the main refinancing operations unchanged at 25 basis points. Accordingly, the interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility were lowered to 3.65% and 3.90% respectively.
- The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to maintain the Bank Rate at 5.00%. The last change in the Bank Rate was a 25 basis points cut in August 2024.
- The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee of Norway's Norges Bank left the policy rate unchanged at 4.5%. The last change in the policy rate was a 25 basis points increase in December 2023.
- The Bank of Japan announced it will encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.25%.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left the cash rate target unchanged at 4.35%. The last change in the cash rate target was a 25 basis points increase in November 2023.
- The Executive Board of Sweden's Riksbank lowered the repo rate by 25 basis points to 3.25%. The last change in the repo rate was a 25 basis points reduction in August 2024.
- Funds managed by New York-based Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, and Blackstone's private equity strategy for individual investors, along with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announced they had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AirTrunk of Australia, a data center platform, from Macquarie Asset Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, for an implied enterprise value of over AUD $24 billion. Blackstone said the transaction is subject to approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.
- OPEC announced that eight participating countries which had previously announced additional voluntary production cuts, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, agreed to extend their additional voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day for two months until the end of November 2024, after which these cuts will be gradually phased out on a monthly basis starting December 1, 2024.
- New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. and Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. of Texas announced they had entered into a definitive agreement for Verizon to acquire Frontier in an all-cash transaction valued at USD $20 billion. The companies said the transaction is expected to close in approximately 18 months, subject to approval by Frontier shareholders, receipt of certain regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions.
- Maryland-based Constellation Energy Corporation announced the signing of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft that will pave the way for the launch of the Crane Clean Energy Center (CCEC) and restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1 in Pennsylvania. Constellation said it expects the CCEC to be online in 2028.
- Sweden-based Northvolt AB, a battery developer and manufacturer, announced that measures related to its strategic review were expected to result in the redundancy of approximately 1,600 Northvolt employees in Sweden. Northvolt said this was a workforce reduction of approximately 20% at a global level and 25% in Sweden.
Financial market news
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at USD $68.17 per barrel on September 30th, down from a closing value of USD $73.55 at the end of August. Western Canadian Select crude oil traded in the USD $51 to $60 per barrel range throughout September. The Canadian dollar closed at 74.08 cents U.S. on September 27th, down from 74.12 cents U.S. at the end of August. The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 24,000.37 on September 30th, up from 23,346.18 at the end of August.