Monday March 10

China CPI, PPI, aggregate yuan financing and new yuan loans

Japan real cash earnings and bank lending

Germany industrial production and trade surplus

Earnings include: Alaris Royalty Corp.; Franco-Nevada Corp.

—

Tuesday March 11

Japan GDP and machine tool orders

(6 a.m. ET) U.S. NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Survey.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey.

Earnings include: Altius Minerals Corp.; Endeavour Silver Corp.; Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp.; Lumine Group Inc.; Peyto Exploration & Development Corp.; Tourmaline Oil Corp.; Transcontinental Inc.

—

Wednesday March 12

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. CPI for February. The Street is forecasting a rise of 0.3 per cent from January and up 3.0 per cent year-over-year.

(9:45 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada policy announcement with press conference to follow.

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. budget balance for February.

Earnings include: Adobe Systems Inc.; Lennar Corp.

—

Thursday March 13

Euro zone industrial production

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s national balance sheet and financial flow accounts for Q4.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian building permits for January. Estimate is a decline of 5 per cent from December.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of March 8. Estimate is 235,000, up 14,000 from the previous week.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. PPI final demand for February. Consensus is a gain of 0.3 per cent month-over-month and up 3.2 per cent year-over-year.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. quarterly services survey for Q4.

Earnings include: Empire Co. Ltd.; NFI Group Inc.; North West Co. Inc.; Oracle Corp.; Premium Brands Holdings Corp.; Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.

—

Friday March 14

Germany CPI

England GDP, index of services, industrial production and trade deficit

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s manufacturing sales and new orders. The Street is projecting month-over-month gains of 2.0 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian wholesale trade for January. Estimate is an increase of 1.8 per cent from December.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s new motor vehicle sales for January. Estimate is a year-over-year rise of 5.0 per cent.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for March.

TORONTO — Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. is rolling out a new strategy that will see it invest $2 billion over four years to restructure the company for growth but will also mean the closure of some stores.

The True North plan launched Thursday is meant to usher in a new era for the Toronto-based retailer, which also owns SportChek, Party City, Mark’s and Pro Hockey Life, as it’s working to fend off the effects of tariffs the U.S. started applying to Canadian and Chinese goods this week.

Canadian Tire said the new plan will move the business away from its holding company model to a more agile organization by aggregating the systems and data it holds across all its banners.

The company declined an interview request but positioned the shift as a way to eliminate silos, redundancies and costly back-office processes.

“We will operate more efficiently and go to market more strategically, harnessing our banners and loyalty system to elevate our scale,” Canadian Tire CEO Greg Hicks promised in a statement.

That quest for operational efficiency will also bring the closure of 17 Atmosphere stores Canadian Tire has deemed “uncompetitive.” Fourteen of the stores selling apparel and outdoor gear will be relocated to SportChek stores in phases throughout 2025.

Canadian Tire spokesperson Joscelyn Dosanjh did not indicate whether any job cuts will stem from the closures, but said in an email that the company is trying to place employees impacted by the changes at other locations as their stores in Western Canada close over the next four months.

In addition to the closures, Canadian Tire’s new plan will see it optimize its SportChek portfolio with new concept stores and expand its loyalty program by adding brand partners that issue Canadian Tire money and striving to acquire more Triangle Mastercard holders.

It will also carry out $400 million in share buybacks, doubling its previously disclosed plans to repurchase $200 million worth.

Guiding each part of the strategy will be a restructured leadership team. Susan O’Brien, the company’s chief brand and customer officer, will now serve as its chief transformation officer, while TJ Flood, the president of its Canadian Tire retail division, will become its chief operating officer.

The series of changes comes weeks after Canadian Tire Corp. signed an almost $1.3-billion deal to sell sportswear company Helly Hansen to Kontoor Brands, which owns Wrangler, Lee and Rock & Republic.

Hicks has also spent time recently warning of the effects of the tariffs. He has said consumers had started to ease up on the frugality they adopted to cope with the economic slowdown, but that progress was likely “substantially erased” when the U.S. started levying tariff threats.

Canadian Tire purchases about 15 per cent of its goods from the U.S. It estimates it could find Canadian suppliers for between 25 and 30 per cent of the items it gets from south of the border.

MDA Space Ltd. MDA-T +10.97%increase reported its fourth-quarter profit rose compared with a year ago as its revenue also climbed higher, helped by strong contributions from its satellite systems business.

The company says it earned $25.1-million or 20 cents per diluted share in its quarter ended Dec. 31.

The result compared with a profit of $13.5-million or 11 cents per diluted share in the last three months of 2023.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $346.6-million, up from $205.0-million a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, MDA says it earned 28 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 23 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

The company’s backlog stood at $4.4-billion at the end of 2024, up from $3.1-billion at the end of 2023.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. AQN-T -6.30%decrease reported a loss in its fourth quarter compared with a profit a year ago as its revenue edged lower.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it saw a net loss attributable to shareholders of US$186.4-million or 25 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31.

The result compared with profit of US$186.3-million or 27 cents US per diluted share for the last three months of 2023.

Revenue for the quarter totalled US$584.8-million, down from US$585.7-million a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Algonquin says it earned six cents US per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 12 cents US per share in fourth quarter of 2023.

Shares in the company were down 45 cents or nearly seven per cent at C$6.38 in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.6 per cent in February while new job additions were only marginally up, data showed on Friday, reflecting the early potential impact of uncertainty over U.S. tariffs on corporate hiring decisions.

The economy added a net of 1,100 jobs, Statistics Canada said, a sharp contrast to the addition of 76,000 jobs in January and a cumulative increase of 211,000 from November to January.

Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated the unemployment rate at 6.7 per cent and net addition of 20,000 jobs in February.

This is the final major data to be released before the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy decision on March 12. Currency swap markets are showing that there is an around 73 per cent chance that the bank will cut interest rates for the seventh time in a row to 2.75 per cent.

The Canadian dollar extended losses after the labour data, trading down 0.3 per cent to 1.4339 versus the U.S. dollar, or 69.74 U.S. cents. Yields on two-year government bonds were down 3.9 basis points at 2.6 per cent.

Canada’s unemployment rate has been improving from late last year since a peak of 6.9 per cent in November, spurred by falling interest rates as inflation came within the Bank of Canada’s 1 per cent to 3 per cent target range and economic activity picked up.

However, uncertainty around U.S. tariffs has taken a toll on the hiring intentions of companies, Statscan’s data shows, and economists say unemployment could worsen if the tariffs are imposed.

U.S. President Donald Trump suspended for a month tariffs of 25 per cent he had imposed this week on almost all Canadian imports.

The employment rate, or the number of people employed out of the total population, was unchanged at 61.1 per cent. This metric has been improving in the last few months even as the population growth rate has been slowing, showing an improving job market.

Growth in the working age population, those aged 15 and older, has slowed in recent months as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government implemented immigration curbs, under pressure from opposition parties who blame migrants for the shortage and high prices of housing.

Population growth in February was 47,000, up 0.1 per cent, which was less than half that recorded 12 months earlier and the slowest since April 2022.

The labour force – or the total number of people employed and unemployed – shrank by 16,800, the highest such drop since June 2022.

The participation rate, the proportion of the population who were employed or seeking jobs, fell to 65.3 per cent in February, the first decrease since September 2024, the statistics agency said.

The average hourly wage growth of permanent employees rose to an annual rate of 4.0 per cent in February from 3.7 per cent in January, it said.

The wage growth figure is closely watched by the BoC and, along with rental prices, has been one of the most resilient items which has not fallen in tandem with easing inflation.

Canada’s trade surplus in January exceeded expectations by a wide margin to post a 32-month record as fears of tariffs from the U.S. pushed exports of cars and energy products higher, especially south of its border, data showed on Thursday.

It posted a trade surplus of $3.97-billion, more than double the upwardly revised $1.69-billion seen in December, Statistics Canada said, and posted a record surplus with top trading partner the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump has slapped a 25 per cent tariff on almost all Canadian imports and after retaliation by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he has threatened to stack up more tariffs on them.

On Wednesday, Trump agreed to exempt automakers from the tariffs for one month as long as they comply with the terms of the Canada-U.S.- Mexico free trade agreement, and agreed to look at other products too for similar relief.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast Canada’s trade surplus to be at $1.28-billion and have said that trade balances would benefit from companies front-loading orders in January.

“This uncertainty is creating major swings in the data, and we are just getting started,” Andrew DiCapua, Principal Economist, Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Total exports increased 5.5 per cent in January to a record of $74.5-billion, following a 6 per cent increase in December. A 1 per cent decline in the value of the Canadian dollar to its U.S. counterpart in January also led to an increase in export value, it said.

In volume terms, total exports rose 4.5 per cent in January, following an increase of 2.6 per cent in December.

The jump in exports was led by an over 12 per cent jump in motor vehicles and parts, followed by a 4.8 per cent increase in exports of energy products, data showed.

The Canadian dollar was largely stable after the data with the local currency trading weaker by 0.18 per cent to 1.4361 to the U.S. dollar, or 69.63 U.S. cents. Yields on the two-year government bond dropped by 1.1 basis points to 2.544 per cent.

Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. clocked a record of $14.4-billion in January, from $12.3-billion in December. This was led by historically high exports of $58.2-billion to the U.S. Imports from the United States increased 4.7 per cent, Statscan said.

The trade surplus with the U.S. increased for the third month in a row.

Trump has often indicated that he is unhappy that his country imports more from Canada than it exports and analysts have said that tariffs are also a tool for Trump to reverse this deficit.

However, data shows that its deficit with Canada, which is its second biggest trading partner, is much smaller than its other two top trading partners – Mexico and China.

According to U.S. government data the deficit with Mexico is almost 2.5 times that of Canada, while it is just a fifth of what the U.S. has with China.

Stuart Bergman, chief economist with Export Development Canada said that without energy exports, U.S. would actually run a surplus with Canada.

Services imports, another sector where Canada runs a deficit with the U.S., were down 0.4 per cent on a monthly basis led by a slump in travel services of 5.3 per cent, mainly on lower spending by Canadians traveling to the US, he said.

“This is clear evidence that the current situation is impacting consumer choices,” Bergman said.

• Health care saw another strong month, leading the pack in employment growth among different groups across the economy.
• Government posted gains as well overall, though positions at the federal level saw a reduction in the period.

Here’s where the jobs are for February 2025 – in one chart

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday exempted goods from both Canada and Mexico under a North American trade pact for a month from the 25% tariffs that he had imposed earlier this week, the latest twist in fast-shifting trade policy that has whipsawed financial markets and business leaders.

The exemption, which will expire on April 2, covers both of the two largest U.S. trading partners. Trump had earlier only mentioned an extension for Mexico, but the amended tariffs order – initially issued on Tuesday – covers Canada as well.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier Thursday said he expected Mr. Trump would grant this temporary exemption to most imports from Canada and Mexico until April 2.

With files from Reuters

A large majority of speech watchers approved of what they heard from President Trump’s joint address to Congress Tuesday night. 

The viewership was heavily Republican — historically a president’s party draws more of their own partisans. This was no exception, and they liked what they heard.

Click Here:

Poll on Trump’s 2025 joint address to Congress finds large majority of viewers approve – CBS News