TORONTO -- The Canadian dollar`s stint near par with the U.S. dollar is nearing a close, and it will now steadily fall as the Bank of Canada cuts interest rates and the domestic economy slows, a Reuters poll forecast on Wednesday.
The fall in the Canada dollar is now expected to be steeper than predicted in a poll taken last month. That would mark a drastic turnaround from 2007 when the currency surged 17.5% against the greenback and hit a modern-day high of US$1.1039.
The typical pension plans being offered to Canadians "will not contribute meaningfully to an adequate retirement income," an organization of pension professionals warned yesterday.
The Association of Canadian Pension Management, which represents more than 300 plans with $300 billion in assets, said it does not necessarily favour traditional employer-guaranteed defined-benefit plans, but is "advocating for a level playing field."
`Curb appeal` ranks up there with `location, location`
We all know about first impressions and how they stick with us, thousands of them, good, bad, indifferent, fair and unfair, are locked away in our memory banks.
In our personal lives and in the workplace, first encounters can make us like somebody, love somebody, hate somebody.
Likewise, they have a powerful influence in our buying decisions, and when it comes to selling your home those first glances can be deal-makers or deal-breakers.
OTTAWA - Air Canada has quietly pulled the trigger on a potentially controversial move to battle high fuel prices by adding a fuel surcharge of as much as $120 on round-trip flights in North America.
A national consumers group said Friday that Air Canada`s announcement will without a doubt affect how often Canadians fly.
"This is a significant increase," said Mel Fruitman, vice-president of the Consumers` Association of Canada. "Canadians will now think: `Let`s drive instead of flying or not go at all.` "
A new website, www.realestock.com, aims to help buyers and investors discover, research, compare and assess worldwide residential and resort properties that best fit their lifestyles and investment goals.
OTTAWA–Canada`s economy created 19,200 jobs in April, more than economists expected, but the jobless rate ticked higher to 6.1 per cent from 6.0 per cent in March as 23,800 workers entered the labour force, Statistics Canada said yesterday.
It was the first time since June 2007 the unemployment rate was that high.
"Overall the report is a little bit stronger than expected," said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
Beware of plans that promise tax-free RRSP withdrawals
Q: I have heard of strategies to withdraw funds from your RRSP tax free. I have already done so through the Home Buyer`s Plan. How else can I withdraw additional funds from my RRSP without paying tax?
MONTREAL -- It`s difficult to imagine what lenders and brokers were thinking when they dreamt up the shaky mortgage products that set off the U.S. housing meltdown.
Take the "Ninja" mortgage, for example. That`s the catchy phrase one lender used for the "No income, no job, no assets" home loan for which just about anyone could qualify. Other lenders offered "liar loans" that let borrowers merely state their incomes without producing backup documentation.
OTTAWA -- The slump in labour and business productivity growth in Canada this decade has been in part due to a shift in the job market from a surplus of workers to a shortage but is likely temporary, concludes a study by an economic think-tank being released today.
However, it will take more than a rebound to the stronger productivity growth of the previous quarter century to catch up to the U.S, says one of the authors of the report by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
As the old saying goes, "sex sells." Just look around at the advertising world and you can`t help but see the barrage of sexual images to sell products and services that really have nothing to do with sex.
In the financial world, there are not a lot of pictures of half-naked men or women selling mutual funds or other investment products, but there are other forms of what I call financial pornography.
Federal prosecutors are attempting to seize the family home of a Toronto couple -- both in their late 50s, with no prior criminal record -- if they are convicted of running a marijuana grow operation.
Tam Ngoc Tran and his wife, Lien Thi Pham, were arrested last year and charged with marijuana production-related offences, accused of having a medium-sized grow op in their modest home.
The U.S. housing market may be faltering, but thus far, those at home haven`t a worry in sight.
The Canadian dollar has had its strongest performance in years. From a record low of 62 cents on the U.S. dollar in January 2002, the currency now matches the greenback in value. And the second-home housing market at the high end, in places like Victoria on Vancouver Island and Chester, Nova Scotia, is flourishing.
TORONTO -- A fuel surcharge by airlines on North American flights may rile customers, but observers say it was inevitable and may help carrier earnings in the short run.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. and Porter Airlines slapped a fuel surcharge on all their flights Monday as the price of oil stays near all-time highs. The move follows a similar levy by Air Canada last week.
WestJet customers will now have to pay an additional $20 on short-haul flights, $30 for medium-haul and $45 for long-haul flights. Porter Airlines pegged its increase at $20 one-way for the Ottawa-Toronto route, and $40 one-way on all other routes.
A couple of times a week, I lace up the skates and hit the ice with the boys for 60 minutes of Canada`s game -- hockey.
Along with the intense (and I use this word loosely) play, there`s the usual good-natured jabs that occur between players, such as "that slapshot wouldn`t register on a radar gun" and "you know you`d score more goals if you opened your eyes."
OTTAWA -- Canada is laden so thick with business taxes it requires the average major company 11 employees working full-time, year-round simply to comply with them, says a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
That boils down to an annual cost of $2.1 million for each of those companies, but more significantly presents a complex and costly system that challenges the country`s ability to compete internationally, according to the study released Monday.
OTTAWA -- The Canadian dollar briefly rose above parity with the U.S. dollar Wednesday after an international economic think-tank released a report suggesting the slowdown here would be milder than in most other industrial countries.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reported that the latest leading economic indicators point to a "weakening outlook for all the major seven economies" as well as for the industrial world as a whole.
