Business

The administration and governors will urge PJM Interconnection to run a reliability auction offering 15-year contracts to tech companies and hyperscalers, and a White House official said those contracts could support about $15 billion of new power plants.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday morning; the visit follows earlier talks at APEC and included agreements on energy, forestry and trade while tariff negotiations over electric vehicles and canola remain ongoing.

President Trump said the Canada‑U.S.‑Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is 'irrelevant' to the U.S. while touring a Ford factory in Dearborn, Mich.; automakers and industry groups say the pact supports integrated North American supply chains and the agreement is up for review this year.

Hamilton ETFs announced a name change for the fund HFN and the firm reports over $12 billion in assets under management.

The government said it will welcome increased Chinese investment in Canadian energy during Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Beijing, and Ottawa and Beijing signed a joint economic and trade road map plus a memorandum on strengthening energy co-operation.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva expressed support for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and emphasized the importance of central bank independence; Powell is under a government probe over renovation cost overruns and denies wrongdoing, and a legal case involving Fed Governor Lisa Cook is scheduled for the U.S. Supreme Court next week.

British Columbia's Forests Ministry and the federal Department of Natural Resources entered a non-binding five-year memorandum with China's housing ministry to cooperate on modern wood construction, including tall wood and mass timber projects, announced during Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to China.

Dividend 15 Split Corp. says it will file a prospectus supplement covering Preferred Shares and Class A Shares with securities commissions in all Canadian provinces, and no sales will occur until that supplement is filed in each province.

Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales fell 1.2% to $70.8 billion in November, while wholesale sales excluding certain energy and grain items fell 1.8% to $84.4 billion.

The Ontario government released renders showing bright-red replacement subway cars for Toronto's Line 2 that will be built in Thunder Bay and funded by municipal, provincial and federal partners.

A White House statement said the United States and Taiwan reached an agreement to lower tariffs and promote investment in the semiconductor sector; the statement did not name any company, and the article mentions reports that the accord would call for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to build additional plants in Arizona.

School boards and transportation groups review road, weather and carrier input each morning before recommending bus cancellations; some parents say late or unclear notices have caused disruptive last‑minute arrangements.

Ontario has proposed pausing requirements that allow some cities to require affordable housing units, citing higher financing and construction costs and a strained residential development market; the province says the pause would run until July 1, 2027.

The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated Maxeon's asserted claims in a patent dispute over Canadian Solar's TOPCon technology, and Canadian Solar's U.S.-listed shares rose while Maxeon's fell.

Coterra and Devon are reported to be in talks about a possible combination, and representatives for both companies did not immediately respond to queries.

The Canada Growth Fund is investing up to US$65 million in Mangrove Water Technologies to support domestic lithium processing; the financing is part of an US$85-million round that also includes Breakthrough Energy Ventures and BMW i Ventures.

The article reports that U.S. actions in Venezuela and tighter controls on Venezuelan oil shipments have put Cuba's largely oil-dependent electricity system at serious risk, and that diminished fuel supplies could constrain the government's mobility and capacity to enforce control.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew warned that Doug Ford's threat to remove Crown Royal from Ontario stores could weaken a united Team Canada response to U.S. tariffs, and Ford has reiterated he will stop selling the whisky after Diageo closes an Ontario bottling plant next month.

Jagex has launched RS25 to mark RuneScape's 25th year, announcing the largest annual investment into the franchise and a plan to remove the Treasure Hunter microtransaction system after a community vote.

Tensions around Iran are raising oil price risks and complicating trade ties with China; sanctions and shadow shipping are making enforcement more difficult.

Canada's federal privacy commissioner has expanded an investigation into sexualized deepfakes shared on X and launched a related probe of xAI and its Grok model to examine whether personal information was used without valid consent under federal private sector privacy law.

Provincial and federal governments announced 55 new trains to replace Line 2's T‑series, to be built by Alstom in Thunder Bay with Canadian content raised to 55% and joint funding now at $1 billion.

Leaders who guided Uber Eats in Toronto describe its path from a 2015 lunchtime experiment to a national platform; the article reports the service now operates in more than 400 Canadian cities and has processed over one billion orders.

BlackBerry filed U.S. court documents saying former employee Neelam Sandhu has not presented evidence that her job loss was discriminatory or retaliatory after she complained about alleged sexual harassment by the company's CEO.

A major winter storm has prompted widespread closures and cancellations across the Greater Toronto Area, with many school boards, post‑secondary campuses, libraries and the Toronto Zoo closed or shifting to online operations and several school bus services cancelled.

An Oakville resident says his home and auto premiums nearly doubled over three years, while Statistics Canada reports home premiums rose 6.8% and auto premiums rose 7.3% from October 2024 to October 2025.

IMF-based projections for 2026 show U.S. inflation falling to 2.4% while Venezuela is forecast at 682.1%; many European and Asian economies are projected to see inflation near or below 2%.

Bombardier will spend about $100 million to build a 126,000-square-foot manufacturing plant near Dorval, Montreal, which the company says will open by the end of 2027.

H&R Block Canada identifies 15 types of income that are generally not taxable, and a 2025 survey found that 63% of Canadians feel unsure about navigating tax credits and benefits.

Manitoba has limited the number of private nursing agencies it will work with to four starting Jan. 15, and the provincial travel nurse team has expanded to help fill gaps; the nurses' union says some hospitals are already reporting unfilled shifts.