Forget the nuances of the stock market. The future of the Canadian economy may be reflected in something as basic as our morning coffee.
Across Canada, people are making subtle changes to their spending to reflect the times, from swapping the cinema for sofa-surfing to opting for more intimate nuptials, driving more fuel-efficient vehicles or simply switching from $4 lattes to home-brewed joe.
EDMONTON - Expect to see more environmentally friendly garden products available across the country now that Ontario has banned traditional lawn and garden pesticides.
Home Depot, for example, has announced it will voluntarily stop selling such products at its 166 Canadian stores, including Alberta locations.
Business leaders unhappy with Ottawa`s response to labour issues
OTTAWA - Business leaders give failing grades to the Harper government for its handling of eight labour market issues they identify as priorities, according to a survey commissioned by a federal department.
The survey, done by Ottawa-based Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc., for Human Resources and Social Development Canada, asked 400 business executives to rate a list of labour market issues by priority. Leading the way were issues related to skill training and recognition.
OTTAWA - Air Canada has lowered its fuel surcharges for most flights and created a base-fee for flights to the United States, days after competitor WestJet announced similar but smaller fees.
The two airlines now have identical surcharges for domestic flights, costing travellers between $20 and $45, depending on the distance.
Online banking and online investing can be a huge boon to busy people. When you think how complementary these two activities are -- one focused on bill payment and cash flow, the other on investing goals --it may seem logical to engage in both from a single supplier.
But that`s not how most families operate. At one point in our family`s case, we had basic savings accounts, chequing accounts and ATMs with three different banks, and full-service brokerage accounts with two non-bank institutions.
If you thought that parity with the U.S. dollar was the loonie`s long-term flight plan, you might want to fasten your seat belt. At least one Bay Street currency expert is predicting our dollar will fly high again, climbing back to an altitude of $1.06 (U.S.) by the end of 2009.
Doubtful? Consider this: Scotia Capital`s Camilla Sutton was the first currency strategist to predict the loonie would hit $1.10 last November.
About a week later, it did.
Now, her official forecast is for the loonie to end 2008 at $1.01, before it powers back to the $1.06 level late next year.
You don`t need to be rich to do start thinking about estate planning
EDMONTON - Many surveys suggest that six out of 10 Canadians do not have a retirement plan. What`s scarier is that even fewer have estate plans.
When you think about estate planning, what comes to mind? For most people, estate planning is about what happens when you die. Where does your money go? How can you minimize taxes? How can you keep more by paying less?
Don`t skimp on the door -- it`s your home`s weakest link
Appearance, value and insulation are top concerns when a consumer goes shopping for a new front door. But sadly, we don`t pay enough attention to the purpose for which doors were first invented -- keeping the unwanted out -- says door security expert Richard McEvoy.
The insulated, steel-clad door was a great leap forward in exterior fittings because it provided an economical way to deal with the warping that could plague solid-wood doors while increasing R-value, says McEvoy.
Proper staging will ensure your house gets sold in no time
Attention to detail can mean the difference between a house that`s sold and one that lingers on the market. Here are some staging tips from Sabrina Soto, host of the HGTV series Get It Sold:
- Allow at least one metre of space so potential buyers can walk around freely. Take out unnecessary furniture to free up space.
Leo Levett-Smith and his wife, Jean, thought they did everything right when they bought their retirement home in Spain. They used a registered real estate agent, a Spanish notary and obtained their mortgage through one of the country`s largest savings banks.
Then in January they received a demolition order saying the house had been built without a permit.
The low-inflation legacy of the lofty loonie lives on, at least for now.
That`s the expectation of economists, who are forecasting that despite soaring prices globally for food and fuel, the inflation rate being reported this week by Statistics Canada will remain among one of the lowest in the world.
And Canadian consumers in large part can thank their strong currency`s dampening impact on import prices for the April numbers, they say.
Ten years ago, Luis Vasquez left his home in Veracruz, Mexico, where he earned the equivalent of $1.50 a day picking other people`s crops, to go to the city of Cuernavaca, "thinking about a better future," he said.
That future never materialized. Married and the father of three daughters, Mr. Vasquez, 29, survives by doing odd jobs: harvesting sorghum, laying bricks, or working as a butcher in the local market. This summer, however, Mr. Vasquez will supplement his income in a new way, travelling to Saint-Rémi, Que., to pick vegetables under a program for agricultural workers.
Calculating your net worth is trickier than you might think
EDMONTON -- If you go to the bank to get a mortgage or open up a line of credit, chances are the bank will ask you to complete a net worth statement. The net worth statement is important to the bank because it is a way to measure your ability to take on debt by understanding how much you are worth. To the bank, the more wealth you have, the more credit they are likely to give you.
The net worth statement not only tells you how much you are worth, but the details can also give you a lot of insight on how to get ahead financially.
College education pays big dividends for students, governments -- study
Colleges are a blue-chip investment and everybody wins when Canadians enter the workforce with an education from one, concludes a new report on the contribution of colleges to the national economy.
The study, released Tuesday by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC), describes post-secondary institutions as "engines of economic growth," and the head of the ACCC says it proves why governments need to invest more in colleges, especially in a time when Canada faces a shortage of skilled workers.
EDMONTON - An interesting new service called The Canadian Tax Audit Protection Plan is being offered to taxpayers who have aroused the attention of the Canada Revenue Agency.
Many taxpayers have been receiving their Notices of Assessment from CRA, saying all is well with their income tax return, so far. But even an attached cheque for your calculated refund amount doesn`t mean you are out of the woods.
OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada will have to cut interest rates further than expected to cushion the economy against a deepening slump in its key export market and to rein in a currency that soared further above parity Tuesday, forecasters predict.
Reinforcing that view were reports that Canadian wholesalers have suffered their second consecutive quarterly decline in sales and that an index of U.S. economic activity sunk deeper below recessionary levels at the start of the second quarter.
Canadian homeowners have watched in horror as the subprime mortgage disaster unfolded down south - and many worry it still might happen here.
The fallout from the subprime mess south of the border has been filling business pages for months with stories of foreclosure epidemics, real-estate market meltdowns, lenders and investment banks going under and a global credit crunch. But what exactly is at the root of it all, and why has Canada not caught the subprime virus like we do most other economic ailments of our largest trading partner? Forthwith, an explanation.
OTTAWA -- Canadians last month got a taste of what`s to come -- higher prices.
That was the warning issued after Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that consumer prices, fuelled by steep increases at the gas pumps, jumped twice as much as expected in April.
And not only have gasoline prices risen further in the past month; Prime Minister Stephen Harper said there`s nothing the government can do to prevent even further increases.
OTTAWA (CNS) -- Canada`s trade with Russia more than doubled between 1998 and 2007, but it still represents only about 0.3 per cent of our country`s total trade with the world, according to a study by Statistics Canada released Wednesday.
The study shows that from 1998 to 2007, trade between the two countries rose 154 per cent to reach $2.6 billion last year. During the same period, Canada`s total world trade grew just 38.6 per cent.
