Canadian Economic News

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Household spending boosts economy

OTTAWA–Six of 10 components rose in March as the composite leading index remained unchanged after a decline in February.

Statistics Canada reports both housing and new orders for durable goods rebounded from large declines, while overall household spending led growth and the stock market replaced manufacturing as the economy`s weakest sector.

All components related to household spending advanced.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/415927

 

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Tax mistakes can be corrected

It`s that time of year again. No, I don`t mean spring or the NHL playoffs. It is tax time.

It can be trying enough to make sure the current year`s return is filed on time. However, what if like the Toronto Maple Leafs, you are haunted by the failings from seasons past?

In this case, it means that you have either failed to disclose information to the Canada Revenue Agency or have disclosed information which is not correct.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/bus...a6-48bb7cadb384

 

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Website a great way to renovate

Canadians looking to do green home renovations no longer have to struggle to track down locally available products and resources.

In October 2007, Rod Hart of URBANbuilt, a media company focused on sustainability issues within the North American building industry, quietly launched Tint of Green, one of the first Canada-wide directories for greener home renovating products and services.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/l...64-efc9cfb88843

 

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Feds defend actions on worker shortage

WHISTLER, B.C. - It`s no big shock to anyone that there is a shortage of skilled labour in the housebuilding industry -- it`s been that way for some time. As has been reported countless times, builders, developers, trades and suppliers are partnering up with school boards and post-secondary institutions to ensure a well-trained future workforce.

In this effort, the different levels of government have also been involved.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/n...ac-6f535a2963ea

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Gasoline price seen heading to $1.40 a litre

CALGARY -- Canadian drivers should brace for record gasoline prices this spring and summer, as high as $1.40 a litre for regular unleaded gas. The benchmark price of oil rose yesterday to yet another record close, finishing at $116.69 (U.S.) a barrel, up $1.83 or 1.6 per cent on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A year ago, the price was about $64 a barrel.

The average price of regular gasoline in Canada this week was $1.19 (Canadian) a litre, according to consultancy MJ Ervin & Associates. It is already a dime higher than early March and could rise to $1.40 a litre, Michael Ervin said yesterday.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/Business

 

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Mortgage requirements ease for rental investors

Budding real estate moguls will welcome the news that Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has relaxed the rules for would-be Donald Trumps to purchase investment properties with no money down.

The changes apply to rental properties with a maximum of four units, but even The Donald had to start somewhere. CMHC has made the changes with the intention of easing the squeeze in the rental housing market. As long as a prospective purchaser can satisfy a lending institution, typically a bank, to approve the mortgage, CMHC will underwrite it up to 100 per cent. The Crown corporation will even tack the one-time insurance premium on to the mortgage.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...e6-5638600f47e4

 

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Canadians prop up Hawaiian property

MAUI, Hawaii - Nine out of 10 visitors to an open house hosted recently by real estate agent Randy Antonio were Canadians.

That might be unremarkable except that this open house was in Maui, more than 4,000 kilometres from the closest city in Canada.

Antonio`s experience reflects a growing trend that is seeing vacation home sellers in the subprime-strapped United States skipping straight across the border seeking buyers from Canada.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...ed-c2f909535f99

 

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Dealers see 50-point rate cut next week.

TORONTO (Reuters) - A large majority of Canada`s primary securities dealers predicted on Thursday that the Bank of Canada would cut its key overnight rate by 50 basis points at its next scheduled announcement on April 22.Nine of Canada`s 12 dealers, surveyed by Reuters, forecast Canada`s central bank would lower its key interest rate to 3.00 percent next week, two expect a 25-basis-point cut and one was not available to comment.

http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/...umentid=6813472

 

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Sask. blogger caught in legal bind

Linking one blog to another and allowing comments on her blog postings has landed one prominent Saskatchewan blogger in a legal quandary.

Kate McMillan of Small Dead Animals is one of several named as defendants in a statement of claim filed by Richard Warman with the Ontario Superior Court on April 7. Others include Ezra Levant, the National Post and one of its journalists, Jonathon Kay.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...8c-775a48a3a72b

 

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Web marketing all about focus, says expert

Many small businesses will spend thousands of dollars on websites, yet won`t market them properly, says David Cree, an Internet marketing consultant.

This is where search marketing is effective, he says.

Search marketing involves carefully determining how people will be searching on the web for the product you are selling.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...c6-cea12938a274

 

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Skilled workers still hard to find in Canada, survey says

OTTAWA - Nearly one in three Canadian employers has difficulty filling skilled job openings, a new survey suggests.

While that`s down slightly from last year, the reprieve is temporary and the skills shortages will get worse, says Manpower Canada in an analysis of the Canadian results of its third annual global survey released Monday.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...c4-dfa6f9e82901

 

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Bioenergy production on the rise

The future of Canada`s forests may lie in applying new technologies to a very old use.

Fuel and heat -- trees have long provided both, but in this era of high oil prices and even higher public expectations about slowing climate change, wood-produced energy is attracting interest from researchers, investors and consumers.

It even has a new name: bioenergy.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...59-f9304ae83e96

 

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Landfill boss turns waste into watts

Andre Lafleche isn`t in the garbage business. Rather, he manages one of society`s most abundant untapped resources.

The semi-retired landfill owner is in the business of turning one man`s trash into a treasure trove of high-value energy and electricity.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...51-27c11b037708

 

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Skype offers unlimited long-distance service from $2.95

Internet long-distance provider Skype announced Monday a flat-rate service that will let users call land lines around the world for only a few dollars a month.

For Canadians that translates to $2.95 a month for unlimited long-distance calls to landlines and cellphones across Canada and the United States. The company defines unlimited as 10,000 minutes a month, or the equivalent of five hours of talking each day.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...7e-1829a7def46b

 

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Government says no to privatizing Canada Post

MONTREAL - The federal government yesterday launched a strategic review of Canada Post but ruled out privatizing the country`s second-largest Crown corporation.

"This review is being conducted with the full understanding that Canada Post will remain a Crown corporation," said Lawrence Cannon, the minister responsible for Canada Post, said in a release.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...6e-97eb5f19a71d

 

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Bank of Canada slashes rates

Ottawa — The Bank of Canada is aggressively cutting its key interest rate by another half percentage point, scaling back its expectations for growth in the Canadian economy and not projecting a recovery until two years from now. The central bank`s key rate now stands at 3 per cent, a full 150 basis points lower than where it stood last fall (a basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.).

It`s the second month in a row for the new central bank governor, Mark Carney, to cut rates by a dramatic 50 points, despite the bank tradition of moving in 25-point increments.

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story...es0422/GIStory/

 

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Canada scores high on infrastrcture. trade

Canada can add a new lure to its sales pitches for more foreign investment.

It now ranks fourth among the best places on the planet in which to conduct business during the next five years.

That`s the word from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), part of the same company that publishes The Economist, which ranks 82 countries based on an analysis of such typical areas of interest to business as the political and economic environment, taxes, labour, market potential and trade and investment policies.

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/st...422.wrcompete22

 

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How to Avoid Real Estate Property Scams in Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica and other Central / South American Countries

(NaturalNews) This is a special update for those individuals who are looking at buying land in Central or South America. It contains some very important information about avoiding scams when seeking property there (this information applies to anyone looking at information in Panama, Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, etc.). I learned all of this in my travels there, and in talking with the many Americans, Canadians and British citizens who already live there (and who went through a lot of trouble to learn these lessons).

http://www.naturalnews.com/022941.html

 

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Loans will become costlier and harder to get, predicts Bank of Canada

OTTAWA - Canadian consumers and businesses eventually will pay more for credit, or find it harder to obtain, because commercial banks have not yet delivered to them the full increase in their funding costs from the worsening global credit crunch, the head of the Bank of Canada warned Thursday.

"We do expect that ultimately that will be passed on," Mark Carney told a news conference following the release of the bank`s monetary policy report, which also warned that the global credit crunch has worsened.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...c4-5249ca7dfd97

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Online sales see double-digit growth

Online sales continued to grow at double-digit rates in 2007, yet after six years of such expansion the sector still represents only a small part of Canada`s economy, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

Internet sales -- including not only retailers but all enterprises in the private and public sectors -- grew to an estimated $62.7 billion in 2007, up 26 per cent over the year before. The private sector constituted the largest part with sales of $58.2 billion -- a 25 per cent hike over 2006.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...05-fffc76b20f82