***** Canada Business News *****

[saki]

Harper pledges 550 new jobs in Miramichi, N.B.


Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the federal government will create 550 jobs by establishing a payroll centre in Miramichi, N.B.

Harper said the move of the pay centre from Ottawa to Miramichi will result in annual savings of up to $80 million a year once startup costs are recouped.

Harper said the new centre will create good-paying employment opportunities in the northern New Brunswick community that has been hard hit by job losses in recent years.

"You will be able to find a job here in Miramichi, a city anyone would love," the prime minister said.

The move fulfils a promise to replace any jobs lost as the Conservative government carries out its pledge to shut the long-gun registry headquartered in Miramichi.

Harper said the firearms centre "does more than just the long-gun registry" and the payroll centre move will absorb any job losses in the firearms centre "many times over."

Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose told the news conference in Miramichi that the government would recruit and train people in the region to work at the centre.

The new centre and jobs will allow "people in the community to stay in the community," Ambrose added.

Existing payroll system decades old

The Conservatives have promised to replace any jobs lost at the Canadian Firearms Centre in Miramichi if the long-gun registry is abolished. (CBC)When the prime minister arrived in Miramichi, there was a small group protesting outside the firearms centre about job losses if the long-gun registry is abolished.

The existing payroll system is 40 years old and Harper said the Miramichi initiative is part of the federal government's "commitment to increase the effectiveness of public service operations and eliminate unnecessary costs."

The new Miramichi centre will replace the outdated and labour-intensive technology with a more modern system.

The system is expected to be fully implemented 2015-16.

The federal government anticipates it will spend $298 million in the next six years to set up the new system and it will recoup that investment by 2020.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser raised concerns in her spring 2010 report about the state of the government's payroll system.

The prime minister's advisory committee on the public service also indicated that updating the federal payroll system was a "top priority" in February 2009.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/08/19/nb-harper-miramichi-announcement.html#ixzz0x6vG0inT

 

[saki]

Students worried about bills: survey


OTTAWA — With just a few weeks left before the start of the school year, many Canadian post-secondary students say they are worried about making enough money to pay the bills, even though most say working during school will affect their grades, according to an RBC/Ipsos Reid poll released Monday.

The RBC Student Finances Study found 57 per cent of students say they plan to work during the school year in order to help pay the bills, 77 per cent believe working part-time during school will affect their grades, and 66 per cent say worrying about money will affect their grades. The majority, 60 per cent, say they expect to graduate with debt. However 74 per cent of students don’t use a budget.

According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, those graduating in 2005 had an average debt load of $18,800, up from $15,200 a decade earlier. The majority of students, 57 per cent, were forced to borrow money to finance their post-secondary education, up from 49 per cent 10 years earlier.

Not surprisingly, 44 per cent of students who do not plan to work part time are more likely to rely on their parents for financial support and 46 per cent who believe they will graduate debt-free rely on their parents for financial assistance, according to RBC.

However, according to a TD Canada Trust Education and Finances Survey, also released Monday, 87 per cent of parents say they plan to pay all or part of the costs of their child’s post-secondary education, but 26 per cent say they have yet to start saving. Another 15 per cent say they have no idea how they will finance it and 10 per cent of parents say they plan to use either credit cards or their line of credit to pay for their child’s education.

“While the long-term benefits of a post-secondary degree are significant, so is the price tag,” Lawrence Engel, vice-president of personal lending at TD Canada Trust, said in a release. “Ideally parents should start putting money away for their children’s education when their kids are young but if they haven’t saved, or saved enough, there are flexible, cost-effective options that can help.”

The RBC survey was conducted online between June 24 and June 29, and polled 531 Canadian post-secondary students under the age of 25. The results are considered accurate to within plus or minus 4.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The TDpoll was collected through two polls, one of 600 Canadian parents conducted by Environics Research between July 15 to 19. The second was a survey of 1,001 post-secondary students or recent graduates aged 18 to 24.

 

[saki]

TSX down slightly as economic concerns overshadow M&A speculation

The Toronto Stock Exchange fell slightly Monday as merger-and-acquisition talk remained front and centre, but commodity prices fell over concerns surrounding the state of the U.S. economy.


The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 3.44 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 11,718.63. Energy, financials and telecommunications were among the sectors gaining, but losses were seen in consumer staples, industrials and materials.


The junior TSX Venture composite was down 4.29 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 1,475.33, its first loss in eight days.


U.S. markets were also down. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 39.21 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 10,174.41. The Nasdaq composite index was down 20.13 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 2,159.63.


With commodities, crude oil was down 72 cents to $73.10 U.S. a barrel in New York. Gold declined 30 cents to $1,228.50 U.S. an ounce.


The Canadian dollar lost 32 basis points to close at 95.03 cents U.S..


Such movement in stocks, commodities and currency happened as analysts expect U.S. data this week to show weak activity for existing-home sales last month and economic growth in the second quarter.


Acquisition speculation, though, helped limit overall losses on the Canadian stock market. The stock of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., which has rejected a $38.6-billion U.S. bid from BHP Billiton Ltd., rose for a sixth straight day. It finished the session up 0.71 per cent to $158.17 on the TSX.


Potash Corp. chief executive Bill Doyle told Postmedia News Monday that the company has been approached by several other potential buyers since the BHP bid became public last Tuesday. Doyle didn't name what companies contacted him, but there is speculation that firms such as Vale SA, Rio Tinto Group and Chinese-state-owned Sinochem Group are among those interested.


"There's a lot of enthusiasm related to the Canadian market and the Potash situation," Stephen Gauthier, money manager with Fin-XO Securities in Montreal, told Bloomberg. "People are thinking quite a higher offer could be on the table and there can be other bids for other natural resources companies."


BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. was down for the sixth time in eight days as investors continue to fret about its competition with Apple's iPhone and various governments' demands for access to BlackBerry messages among people in their countries. On Monday, RIM was down 1.55 per cent to $50.21 in Toronto.


However, some of the Canadian companies that provide BlackBerry service connections, among other things, had their shares do quite well. BCE Inc. was up 2.35 per cent to $33.47, Telus Corp. gained 2.23 per cent to $43.56 and Rogers Communications Inc. rose 1.26 per cent to 37.89.


Overseas, it was generally gains in Europe but losses on Asian stock markets on Monday.

 

[saki]

BMO earnings, oil prices fuel TSX loss

Lower-than-expected earnings at the Bank of Montreal and declining oil prices spelled trouble for the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.


The S&P/TSX composite index was down 161.28 points, or 1.38 per cent, to 11,557.35, its biggest loss in almost two weeks. Declines were led by financials and energy stocks, the market's two biggest sectors.


Bank of Montreal reported third-quarter earnings that trailed analysts' estimates. Not including one-time items, it saw a profit of $1.14 a share. Analysts expected $1.21. Its shares were down 6.03 per cent to $55.50. That was BMO's biggest one-day decline since December 2008, when financial markets were in meltdown mode.


Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which reports earnings on Wednesday, was down two per cent to $66.81 on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada, which comes out with earnings Thursday, was down 3.1 per cent to $55.09.


On the commodities market, crude oil was down $1.47 to $71.63 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It has fallen from more that $80 U.S. early this month.


Looking at some of the casualties of the TSX energy sector Tuesday, Suncor Energy Inc. was down 1.35 per cent to $32.11, while Husky Energy Inc. lost 2.07 per cent to close at $24.58.


The junior TSX Venture composite on Tuesday was down 18.5 points, or 1.25 per cent, to 1,456.85.


Gold on Tuesday was up $4.90 to $1,233.40 U.S. an ounce in New York, while the Canadian dollar was dropped 72 basis points to 94.31 cents U.S..


U.S. economic news wasn't helping matters on Tuesday. Existing-home sales there for July came in below already-low expectations. They fell 27.2 per cent to an annualized rate of 3.83 million, compared to economists' expectations for 4.65 million.


Michael Sprung, president of Sprung & Co. Investment Counsel in Toronto, said Tuesday's news reinforced existing misgivings investors have about the state of the global economic recovery.


"I think we're generally going to see a mixed bag coming from the (Canadian) banks," Sprung said. "But what's really causing the malaise in the markets is just the trepidation of investors as to just how fragile this recovery might be, and particularly, if we may or may not be heading for the so-called double-dip (recession)."


On the brighter side, Sprung advised that the headwinds stock markets are going though lately are creating some bargain prices for certain stocks. He suggested reasonably priced dividend-paying shares could be a valuable pickup for long-term investors.


On U.S. markets Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 133.96 points, or 1.32 per cent, to 10,040.45. The Nasdaq composite index fell 35.87 points, or 1.66 per cent, to 2,123.76.


Most of the main stock markets in Europe and Asia saw declines of more than one per cent on Tuesday.

 

[saki]

Back-to-school shopping getting high-tech — and high-price

No more pencils, no more books" is sounding less like an end-of-school anthem than a back-to-school forecast, thanks to the growing presence of technology in the classroom.


From e-readers to iPads, digital textbooks to mobile apps, students of every age and education level are confronting shopping lists that make graphing calculators look like abacuses. The pricey tech contributes to a back-to-school bill expected to top $600 per consumer before Labour Day, with computers, software and computer-related electronics representing one of the Top 4 purchase categories.


"It creates pressure to have the latest gear, so that students are on the right side of the digital divide," says Sidneyeve Matrix, a professor of media studies at Queen's University. "And unless an institution is going to provide these gadgets . . . we have an issue of accessibility."


Many schools do, in fact, offer complimentary laptops for students to use at home and in school, while others have designed lease-to-own netbook programs with small monthly fees for parents.


Corporately sponsored initiatives also play a role, such as the Leapfrog literacy program that, come October, will see 50,000 Canadian children receive free Tag Reading Systems which use infrared cameras to help youngsters decipher words. The program would otherwise set parents back $50 a pop.


But even so, a recent survey for Visa Canada found the average person's back-to-school bill will still reach $621 before Sept. 6. And electronics retailer Future Shop reports that student "computing solutions" are running anywhere from $299 to upward of $1,000.


"It represents a huge outlay of cash for parents," says Matrix. "But if you think about it in terms of honing digital fluency, then certainly those purchases are worthwhile."


An electronic reader can set buyers back as much as $400, with e-textbooks costing only slightly less than print editions, which is the publishers' way of not undercutting themselves at bookstores.


Some believe the answer is free, open-source digital textbooks, which are now being tested in California schools, but pilot programs with e-readers have turned up mixed results.


Experts in support of such changes say the key isn't the technology itself but rather teachers that know how to leverage it in meaningful ways. For instance, though people get anxious when student note-taking involves a keyboard instead of a pencil and paper, a University of Calgary scholar says it's ultimately the same activity, with the same capacity to waste time.


"In those cases, I say get the technology out of there; you've just made a very expensive typewriter," says Sharon Friesen, a dean in the faculty of education.


Many Canadian classrooms, however, are using their new-found connectedness productively, such as linking up students with kids from other countries for projects that bring the outside world in, and vice versa. Friesen says the driving forces behind this movement are globalization, technological developments and improved research on learning styles.


"Information isn't hard to get anymore; sorting through it is the challenge," she says. "The whole endeavour of schooling has changed, and we see it in everything from meaningful homework assignments to the types of things kids are buying for school."


Indeed, where technology in the 1980s and early 90s was largely absent from classrooms — think Commodore 64s, Motorola's DynaTAC cellphones, and the Epson HX-20 proto-laptops — today, it has turned electronics stores into frontline back-to-school shopping destinations.


"Back in the day . . . students were basically shopping for binders, paper, pencils and erasers," says Zayn Jaffer, director of computing for Future Shop. "Now we've got people coming in to buy laptops, tablet PCs, netbooks — these have all become part of the student's identity."

 

[saki]

Key manufacturing sectors slow to rebound from recession

OTTAWA — A number of Canada's key manufacturing industries are expected to bounce back from the economic downturn this year, while others will have to wait until 2011 or later to return to profitability, according to a report issued Tuesday.


The Canadian Industrial Profile-Summer 2010, published by the Conference Board of Canada in collaboration with the Business Development Bank of Canada, singles out printing services and paper products manufacturing as industries that should be back on track this year, while auto parts producers will see their losses slow down this year and return to profitability by in 2011.


Canadian pulp-and-paper producers should see losses slow this year and a return to modest profits in 2011, the Conference Board said, and lumber producers should see an end of losses and healthier profits by 2012.


"Some of the manufacturing industries analyzed in this report faced declining production before the recession and the downturn only made matters worse," said Michael Burt, the Conference Board's associate director for industrial economic trends.


"Not every industry is at the same point in their recoveries, but improved profitability can be expected as demand grows and the cost-cutting implemented during the recession starts to help the bottom line."


In the paper sector, the Conference Board is estimating that the Canadian industry will lose $139 million this year — an improvement over the $3 billion lost over the previous two years — and should edge back into the black in 2011.


Canada's wood-products sector is expected to end a three-year string of losses with $527 million in profits in 2010 and returns of up to $1 billion by 2012. Demand from China will drive the gains, though the board notes that the key U.S. housing market "will take several years to recover."


The report says that despite the challenges facing printing companies — with the shift to online publications and environmental concerns limiting growth prospects — that sector's profits are projected to grow by $240 million this year, compared with last year's low of $210 million, with profits continuing to grow "modestly."


The prospects for Canada's aerospace industry are less stellar — the report notes that production slowed in that sector in the latter half of 2009 and profits this year are expected to decline a further 35 per cent to $269 million. "The good news is that demand seems to be picking up, which bodes well for the industry's performance over the next four years," the board says.


The forecast for furniture manufacturers, who have seen declining production over the past decade due to cheaper imports, is for modest increases in profitability while foreign competition remains "fierce."


The report forecasts a third consecutive year of losses for auto parts makers, though this year's losses of $41 million will be far less than was lost in previous years. "U.S. vehicle demand is gradually recovering and cost-cutting measures implemented during the recession are improving the bottom line — to the extent that the industry is expected to be profitable in 2011," the report says.

 

[saki]

Local jobs, Canpotex in jeopardy in potash takeover: Union

SASKATOON — A foreign takeover of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. would be bad news for potash workers and potash communities across Saskatchewan and Canada, a union leader said Tuesday.


"As a branch plant of a multinational giant such as BHP, all rules for civilized negotiations to keep jobs and investment in Canada would be off the table," stated Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP).


The CEP union represents about 3,000 potash workers across the country, including 800 miners, production and construction workers employed by Potash Corp.


"Right Now CEP and PCS have agreements in place that promote local hiring and put the people of Saskatchewan first. But, speaking from experience, it's very difficult to extract that commitment from a company headquartered in a different hemisphere," Coles stated.


The union worries that foreign ownership of Potash Corp. would destroy Canpotex — the marketing and distribution arm for Saskatchewan potash.


"It's a slippery slope toward a monopoly and all Canadian potash mining companies would be vulnerable," he stated.


Coles questioned in a CEP news release who is in charge of Canadian resources, noting the nation's bitumen is exported to the United States for processing while logs head to China from British Columbia.


The union president doubts the federal government will step in to stop a foreign potash takeover.


While the Investment Canada Act doesn't allow foreign takeovers that do not deliver a net benefit to Canada, Coles noted since the Act came into effect in 1985, 13,500 foreign takeovers have been approved while one has been rejected.


"This is one more iconic Canadian industry on the chopping block under Mr. Harper's watch," he stated.


Last week, BHP Billiton announced a proposal to acquire Potash Corp. for $38.6 billion U.S..


Potash Corp.'s board has recommended shareholders reject the offer.

 

[saki]

Younger Canadians saving more, study shows

OTTAWA — The stereotype that young people these days don't know the value of a dollar may not be as universal as many think.


According to a poll by Scotiabank, released Tuesday, Canadians aged 18 to 34 are saving more and putting off major purchases until they can afford them compared to their older counterparts.


Young people under 35 were just as likely as those in the 35-to-54 age bracket to put money away on a monthly or bi-weekly basis (60 per cent). Canadians aged 55 and older said they saved money on a_monthly basis (46 per cent) or less often (29 per cent).


"It is great to see that Canadians of all ages understand the importance of saving for the proverbial rainy day and it is particularly encouraging that the younger generation appears to have strong saving habits in place to meet their goals," Anna Clarkson, a Scotiabank branch manager in Calgary said in a release.


The Scotiabank study also found that younger Canadians are the most prudent in financing their major purchases, with 38 per cent indicating they would prefer to save up before purchasing an item compared to 28 per cent of those aged 35 to 44 and 27 per cent in the 45-54 and 55 and older age groups.


The Scotiabank study was conducted online using Harris/Decima's online panel. A total of 1,006 adult Canadians completed surveys between March 26 and March 31.


In recent years, personal savings rate has fallen from a peak of 20 per cent in 1982. It fell to 10 per cent in the 1990s and further to 4.6 per cent by the end of 2009, according to Statistics Canada. Meanwhile, Canadian households had $146.20 in debt for every $100 of disposable income, according to the federal agency. That compares to $90 in debt for every $100 of disposable income at the beginning of the 1990s.

 

[saki]

Ontario's growth slowed by low economic freedom, think-tank says

Ontario's economy is being hobbled because the ability of people to make their own economic decisions, a key building block for prosperity, is declining, according to a new study from the public policy think-tank, the Fraser Institute.


According to the research, Ontario's declining economic freedom has stifled the province's growth, which has been among the slowest in the nation in recent years.


Conversely, strong increases in economic freedom powered British Columbia's economy to a 17 per cent growth rate between 2000 and 2007, versus seven per cent in Ontario.


According to Economic Freedom of North America 2010, Ontario was one of only two provinces, along with Quebec, that saw no improvement in levels of economic freedom between 2000 and 2007. Over the same period, B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan all experienced increases in economic freedom.


"The link between economic freedom and prosperity is clear: provinces with high levels of economic freedom see greater economic growth," said Fred McMahon, Fraser Institute vice-president of international research and co-author of the study.


The think-tanks's research showed that people living in jurisdictions with high levels of economic freedom enjoyed higher standards of living, greater individual freedoms, and longer life spans.


Of the 12 Canadian and American jurisdictions with the highest levels of economic freedom, average per-capita GDP was $51,654 in 2007, compared to the 12 lowest-ranked jurisdictions in North America, where average per-capita GDP in 2007 was $41,652, according to the report.


Overall, Alberta had the highest level of economic freedom in Canada and the third highest among all jurisdictions in North America, behind only Delaware and Texas.


Newfoundland and Labrador was the second highest-ranked province, placing 47th in North America, followed by B.C. (50th), Ontario (tied for 51st), and Saskatchewan (53rd), with New Brunswick (56th), Manitoba (57th), Nova Scotia (58th), Quebec (59th), and Prince Edward Island (60th) claiming the bottom five spots overall.


"A common theme among provinces with high levels of economic freedom is a commitment to low taxes, small government, and flexible labour markets," said McMahon. "These conditions foster job creation and greater opportunities for economic growth."

 

[saki]

Rising resale home prices set to stall: Teranet report

OTTAWA— A fourteen-month stretch of rising home prices could soon be broken, despite gains in June that were the largest since last August, analysts said Wednesday.


Resale home prices rose 1.5 per cent in June, according to the Teranet-National Bank house price index, released Wednesday.


On an annual basis, prices were up 13.6 per cent, driven higher by gains in Vancouver, up 16.3 per cent, and Toronto, up 16.2 per cent.


The monthly advance comes after resale home prices rose 1.3 per cent in May, 0.8 per cent in April and 0.3 per cent in March.


But the report stated that series of gains may be about to stall.


"We do not believe that acceleration in the Teranet-National Bank index will be sustained," said Marc Pinsonneault, economist with National Bank Financial.


"The number of existing homes sold has declined in each of the four months ending last July, and it did so to a proportionally larger extent than the number of new listings,"he said.


"At the national level, the market is now at the boundary between balanced conditions and conditions favourable to buyers. This heralds a deceleration in home price inflation, especially since a harmonized sales tax was introduced on July 1 in Ontario and B.C."


Diana Petramala, an economist at TD Economics, pointed out that the Teranet survey is at odds with the widely quoted measure provided by the Canadian Real Estate Association, which has been showing a trend of moderation in home price growth since January 2010.


By CREA's measure, Petramala wrote in a commentary, home prices have dropped 3.7 per cent since their peak in April.


"The Teranet measure has been lagging the CREA measure by about four to five months, suggesting that this measure too will soon show a slowing in the Canadian existing home market," said Petramala.


"All said, home prices as measured by CREA are expected to fall a further six to seven per cent through the rest of this year. The Teranet estimate of home prices should follow CREA's lead, albeit showing a lesser decline."


For June, prices rose 2.7 per cent in Ottawa, 2.4 per cent in Toronto, 1.4 per cent in Montreal, 1.3 per cent in Halifax, 0.8 per cent in Vancouver and 0.2 per cent in Calgary.


The Teranet index tracks home-price changes in six Canadian cities — Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver — and is estimated by tracking the observed or registered home prices over time. Properties with at least two sales are required in the calculations.

 

[saki]

Canadians in northern communities lack high school diplomas

OTTAWA -- Nearly half of adults in parts of northern Canada lack high school diplomas, compared with only about eight per cent of adults in the southern regions of the country, says a report from the Conference Board of Canada's Centre for the North.


"There is a growing consensus that high school completion is linked to future opportunity," said Gilles Rheaume, vice-president, public policy, of the Conference Board. "People without high school diplomas have fewer job opportunities, employment stability, and lower future earnings potential.


The report indicates northern Saskatchewan, Nunavut, and northern Manitoba have the highest number of adults who did not graduate from high school.


The Centre for the North is a program designed for research and dialogue about sustaining prosperity in the North, and, over five years, to develop strategies and policies to achieve it.

 

[saki]

Canadian payrolls, earnings rise in June

http://www.canada.com/business/Canadian+payrolls+earnings+rise+June/3445342/story.html

 

[shiraz.nisar]

This is very informative thread you are posting Saki. If you have any news regarding software development activities in Canada, please do post.

-shiraz

Canadian payrolls, earnings rise in June

http://www.canada.com/business/Canadian+payrolls+earnings+rise+June/3445342/story.html

 

[saki]

This is very informative thread you are posting Saki. If you have any news regarding software development activities in Canada, please do post.

-shiraz

Thanks for appreciating it and will surely put up the news regarding software development activites.

Cheers
Saki

 

[smallduck]

Thanks Saki, great summary and you help me a lot to get a broad picture...