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.
Resources
- The Government of Canada announced it had signed a Joint Declaration of Intent with Germany committing the two countries to collaboration in the export of Canadian Hydrogen to Germany. The Government said the Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance will commit the two countries to:
- Enabling investment in hydrogen projects through policy harmonization;
- Supporting the development of hydrogen supply chains;
- Establishing a transatlantic Canada–Germany supply corridor; and
- Exporting Canadian hydrogen by 2025.
- Calgary-based Cenovus Energy Inc. announced it had agreed to purchase United Kingdom-based bp's 50% interest in the bp-Husky Toledo Refinery in Ohio for USD $300 million in cash plus the value of the inventory. Cenovus said the transaction is expected to close before the end of 2022.
- Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. announced it had completed a joint venture merger transaction with Phillips 66 of Texas and that it will increase its indirect economic interest in Gray Oak Pipeline, LLC. Enbridge said the parties have agreed to transfer to Enbridge the operatorship of Gray Oak, which provides connectivity from the Permian Basin into Corpus Christi and the Houston area. Enbridge said the transfer of operatorship is planned to occur in the second quarter of 2023.
- Pacific Energy Corporation Limited, part of the Singapore-based RGE group of companies, and Enbridge Inc. of Calgary announced an agreement to jointly invest in the construction and operation of the Woodfibre LNG project, a $5.1 billion storage and export facility being built near Squamish, British Columbia. The companies said Enbridge will invest in a 30% ownership stake and that the project is expected to be in service in 2027.
- Calgary-based TC Energy Corporation and Mexico's Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) announced they had agreed to a strategic alliance and that they had reached a final investment decision to jointly develop and construct the Southeast Gateway Pipeline, a USD $4.5 billion offshore natural gas pipeline project to supply natural gas to the central and southeast regions of Mexico. The companies said the project is anticipated to be in-service by mid-2025.
- Vancouver-based West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. announced it was permanently curtailing approximately 170 million board feet of combined production at its Fraser Lake and Williams Lake sawmills and approximately 85 million square feet of plywood production at its Quesnel Plywood mill due to increasing challenges in accessing available timber in British Columbia and ongoing transportation constraints. The company said that the reduction in capacity is expected to impact 147 combined positions and will occur over the course of the fourth quarter of 2022.
- The Government of Canada announced that the 2022 total allowable catch (TAC) for the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence fall herring stock will be 10,000 tonnes, a decrease from the TAC of 12,000 tonnes which has been in effect since 2020, to help reduce pressure on this stock.
Manufacturing
- The Government of Canada announced partnerships in the form of memoranda of understanding with Volkswagen AG and Mercedes-Benz AG of Germany and that:
- The Volkswagen agreement focuses on deepening cooperation on battery manufacturing, cathode active material production, and mineral supply, among others, and on setting up a Canadian office for PowerCo, Volkswagen's newly formed battery company; and
- The Mercedes-Benz agreement focuses on enhancing collaboration with Canadian companies along the electric vehicle and battery supply chains; supporting the development of a sustainable mineral supply chain in Canada; collaborating in research and development; and identifying potential investments in Canada.
- Valcourt, Quebec-based BRP Inc. announced that on August 8th it had been the target of malicious cybersecurity activity and that operations had been suspended temporarily. On August 15th, BRP said that efforts to restore systems and business operations were continuing and that manufacturing sites in Valcourt; Rovaniemi, Finland; Sturtevant, U.S.; and Gunskirchen, Austria were ramping up production activities and were expected to be fully operational on August 16th. BRP added that the rest of the production sites were planning to resume operations over the course of the week.
Transportation
- Calgary-based WestJet Airlines Ltd. announced the return of 17 sun and leisure routes to the Caribbean, Mexico, and the United States that had been suspended during the pandemic.
- Montreal-based TFI International Inc. announced it had signed a definitive agreement to sell Contract Freighters, Inc.'s Truckload, Temp Control, and Mexican non-asset logistics business to Heartland Express, Inc. of Iowa for USD $525 million. TFI said the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of usual and customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Other news
- Bermuda-based Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. announced it had signed a definitive agreement with Intel Corporation of California to invest up to USD $15 billion for a 49% stake in Intel's manufacturing expansion at its Ocotillo campus in Arizona. Brookfield said the closing of the transaction is targeted for the end of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.
- Waterloo, Ontario-based Open Text Corporation announced it had reached an agreement on the terms of an all-cash offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Micro Focus International plc of the U.K. for an enterprise value of USD $6 billion. OpenText said the acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to shareholder, antitrust, and foreign investment approvals.
- Toronto-based TD Bank Group and Cowen Inc. of New York announced a definitive agreement for TD to acquire Cowen in an all-cash transaction valued at USD $1.3 billion. The companies said the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including approvals from Cowen's stockholders and certain U.S., Canadian, and foreign regulatory authorities.
- Toronto-based Hudson's Bay Company announced that retailer Zellers will debut a new ecommerce site and open shop-in-shops in select Hudson's Bay stores in early 2023.
United States and other international news
- On August 9th, U.S. President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (H.R. 4346), which supports domestic semiconductor manufacturing, research and development, semiconductor workforce development, international information and communications technology security, and semiconductor supply chain activities; and establishes an investment tax credit for investments in semiconductor manufacturing, among others.
- On August 16th, U.S. President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (H.R. 5376), which addresses climate change, health care, taxation, and the Federal deficit, among others.
- The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to increase the Bank Rate by 50 basis points to 1.75%. The last change in the Bank Rate was a 25 basis points increase in June 2022.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increased the target for the cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.85%. The last change in the target for the cash rate was a 50 basis points increase in July 2022.
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) increased the Official Cash Rate (OCR), its main policy rate, by 50 basis points to 3.0%. The last change in the OCR was a 50 basis points increase in July 2022.
- The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee of Norway's Norges Bank raised the policy rate by 50 basis points to 1.75%. The last change in the policy rate was a 50 basis points increase in June 2022.
- OPEC and non-OPEC members announced they had decided to adjust upward the production level by 0.100 mb/d for the month of September 2022.
- Idaho-based Micron Technology, Inc announced plans to invest USD $40 billion through the end of the decade to build memory manufacturing in multiple phases in the U.S. Micron said it expects to begin production in the second half of the decade.
Financial market news
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at USD $89.55 per barrel on August 31st, down from a closing value of USD $98.62 at the end of July. Western Canadian Select crude oil traded in the USD $72 to $83 per barrel range throughout August. The Canadian dollar closed at 76.27 cents U.S. on August 31st, down from 77.98 cents U.S. at the end of July. The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 19,330.81 on August 31st, down from 19,692.92 at the end of July.