Description: Blackberry, that Canadian company once known for its namesake phones, is now rebranded as a software and messaging security organization. Consistent with this outlook, Blackberry has sold-off patents it no longer considers part of its core business for the tidy sum of $900 million. Part of the compensation is based on future royalties of… Read more »
Posts By: Brent White
Here Comes Shake Shack
Description: Canada will be getting its first Shake Shack in 2024. The American burger joint has targeted Toronto for its entry into our Canadian market, but it has said it plans to have 35 stores here by 2035. The fast food market in Canada reports growing sales, with the number up 9% in 2022 and… Read more »
Gordon Moore Dies
Description: Intel co-founder Gordon Moore has died at age 94. In 1965 Moore made a famous prediction that became known as Moore’s Law: essentially, it states that the capacity of computer chips would double every 12 months or so. His rule was expanded to a broader range of technology, sparking the notion that the next… Read more »
Canadians Interest Payments up 45%
Description: Canadians are paying 45% more in interest costs than they were last year at this time. With the Bank of Canada raising interest rates to help control inflation, Canadians are facing financial risks unknown to them since the 1990s. The Bank of Canada is keeping an eye on households falling behind on their debt,… Read more »
The PPE Suppliers Disappear
Description: In the early days of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, many Canadian companies responded to the requests from the federal and various provincial governments to help fill the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for our health care workers. But now 90% of those businesses have collapsed as Canadian governments and hospitals have inked contracts with… Read more »
Corporate Welfare Billions
Description: Several media reported this week on a recent Fraser Institute study on the extent of corporate welfare in Canada. The various business subsidies “come with huge costs to government budgets and taxpayers while doing little if anything to stimulate economic growth,” according to Tegan Hill, a co-author of the report. From 2007 through 2019,… Read more »
Head West for the Summer!
Description: If you ever thought of heading west for a summer job in tourist locations like Banff, Canmore or Lake Louise, this might be the year for you. Worker shortages have employers scrambling to meet their staff needs in the hospitality industry in these Rocky Mountain resort areas. Wages are heading up to help attract… Read more »
Big Win? Or No Win?
Description: When Luc Massé of Shediac, New Brunswick, rolled up his rim for the first time this year playing Tim Horton’s annual contest, he was surprised to see a big win of a $10,000 American Express prepaid card. Massé smartly took a screen shot of the prize notification and began to dream of a trip… Read more »
Air Miles Takeover
Description: The Air Miles customer rewards program has been purchased by Bank of Montreal, following financial problems that resulted in Air Miles parent company, LoyaltyOne, entering creditor protection. Losing the Sobeys grocery chain as a program participant in 2022 was a major blow to Air Miles. But a few years earlier, in 2016, Air Miles… Read more »
CRA Employees to Strike?
Description: Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employees and the Government of Canada are currently at a collective-bargaining impasse. Strike votes are taking place between now and April 7, right in the heart of tax season, when individuals and businesses are normally flooding the CRA call centres with taxation questions. Union President Marc Brière has noted that… Read more »