Energy adviser group decries ‘abrupt’ closure of Greener Homes Loan, warns of layoffs

By The Canadian Press
September 18, 2025

A heat pump unit is seen outside a new single family house billed as an estate cottage, in Delta, B.C., on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A group representing the energy adviser profession says it’s deeply concerned about the sudden closure of applications for the federal Canada Greener Homes Loan program.

Homeowners had been able to borrow up to $40,000 interest-free for certain renovations that would make their properties more energy efficient, such as upgraded windows and insulation.

The Canada Housing and Mortgage Corp. said in a notice on its website Wednesday that the last day homeowners can submit an application for a loan is Oct. 1.

“The Canada Greener Homes Loan has been successful in offering homeowners interest-free repayable loans for energy-efficient home upgrades throughout Canada. As a result, the program’s funding will soon be fully allocated,” CMHC spokesman Leonard Catling said in an emailed statement Thursday.

To date, more than 120,000 loans have been committed totalling $2.9 billion, he said.


The Canadian Association of Consulting Energy Advisors wrote to the federal ministers of housing and natural resources urging Ottawa to continue investing in the program long term.

“The abrupt closure of the loan leaves families stranded and prevents them from moving forward with planned upgrades. Many homeowners have already booked audits into the fall and early winter with the intent of applying for the loan and begun discussions with contractors,” association executive director Cindy Gareau wrote.

In order for a federal loan to be approved, homeowners must have energy audits completed before and after renovations are done to measure efficiency improvements. Applications for the greener homes loan have been a big part of energy advisers’ workloads in recent years.

In an interview, Gareau said advisers are scrambling with two weeks’ notice that the program is winding down.

“Energy advisers and their service organizations have to call their clients back and say, ‘Sorry -- we’re happy to do the audit, but you’re not going to be able to apply for the loan.’ There are many who are trying to push audits in two weeks for the Oct. 1 deadline, if they can," she said.

“I think they’ll be getting a lot of phone calls from people saying, “Quick -- I need my audit tomorrow.’ And you can only do maybe three audits in a day ... It’s not going to be pretty.”

A grant program for home efficiency retrofits ended last year, and 600 energy adviser jobs have been lost out of a total of more than 1,900 due to reduced demand for audits, Gareau’s group said.

She warned of further “layoffs and instability” for the sector with the loss of the loan program, which would affect more than just energy advisers.

“Manufacturers, contractors, installers, and skilled trades across the retrofit ecosystem will face similar setbacks,” Gareau wrote.

“Much of the progress made in recent years to strengthen Canada’s home retrofit industry will be lost -- forcing future governments to rebuild capacity from scratch, as has happened with past stop-and-start programs.

“Without sustainable career pathways, Canada risks losing the experienced professionals and skilled tradespeople required to meet its housing and climate objectives.”


Catling said many other efficiency programs offered by provinces, territories and municipalities may require audits by energy advisers going forward.

Natural Resources Canada does not administer the Greener Homes Loan, but it does back other efficiency initiatives.

Last week, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson announced the launch of the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program, which aims to help low- to medium-income households reduce their energy bills and emissions. It is to be developed in partnership with the provinces and territories.

The first agreement has been reached with Manitoba, with funding of nearly $30 million.

Gareau said the affordability program is a “positive step,” but is “limited in scope and eligibility.”

Since taking office this spring, Prime Minister Mark Carney has also eliminated the consumer carbon price and delayed the electric vehicle sales mandate by at least a year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2025.

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press

Record-breaking $56M in cryptocurrency seized by RCMP

By Rachel Lau
September 18, 2025 

More than $56 million in cryptocurrency has been seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (RCMP)

More than $56 million in cryptocurrency has been seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the largest operation in Canadian history.

The money was recovered from the platform TradeOgre, marking, according to the force, the first time that a cryptocurrency exchange platform has been dismantled by Canadian law enforcement.

“The Money Laundering Investigative Team (MLIT) opened the file in June 2024, following a tip from Europol,” the RCMP states. “The investigation found that the platform contravened Canadian laws and regulations. Specifically, it failed to register with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as a money services business and did not identify its clients.”

Investigators say they have reason to believe that the majority of funds transacted on TradeOgre may be from criminal sources.

The platform, the RCMP explains, doesn’t require users to identify themselves to make an account.

It also hides the source of funds.

“This is a common tactic used by criminal organizations that launder money,” the RCMP notes.

The investigation is ongoing, and charges may follow.

Anyone with information on the illegal activities of individuals or groups is encouraged to contact the RCMP at 514-939-8300 or 1-800-771-5401, or visit their local police station.


Rachel Lau
Digital reporter

China’s DeepSeek says its hit AI model cost just US$294,000 to train

By Reuters
September 18, 2025 

The smartphone app DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

BEIJING — Chinese AI developer DeepSeek said it spent US$294,000 on training its R1 model, much lower than figures reported for U.S. rivals, in a paper that is likely to reignite debate over Beijing’s place in the race to develop artificial intelligence.

The rare update from the Hangzhou-based company - the first estimate it has released of R1’s training costs - appeared in a peer-reviewed article in the academic journal Nature published on Wednesday.

DeepSeek’s release of what it said were lower-cost AI systems in January prompted global investors to dump tech stocks as they worried the new models could threaten the dominance of AI leaders including Nvidia.

Since then, the company and founder Liang Wenfeng have largely disappeared from public view, apart from pushing out a few new product updates.

The Nature article, which listed Liang as one of the co-authors, said DeepSeek’s reasoning-focused R1 model cost US$294,000 to train and used 512 Nvidia H800 chips. A previous version of the article published in January did not contain this information.
Latest updates on artificial intelligence news here

Sam Altman, CEO of U.S. AI giant OpenAI, said in 2023 that what he called “foundational model training” had cost “much more” than US$100 million - though his company has not given detailed figures for any of its releases.

Training costs for the large-language models powering AI chatbots refer to the expenses incurred from running a cluster of powerful chips for weeks or months to process vast amounts of text and code.

Some of Deepseek’s statements about its development costs and the technology it used have been questioned by U.S. companies and officials.

The H800 chips it mentioned were designed by Nvidia for the Chinese market after the U.S. in October 2022 made it illegal for the company to export its more powerful H100 and A100 AI chips to China.

U.S. officials told Reuters in June that DeepSeek has access to “large volumes” of H100 chips that were procured after U.S. export controls were implemented. Nvidia told Reuters at the time that DeepSeek has used lawfully acquired H800 chips, not H100s.Trade War coverage on BNNBloomberg.ca

In a supplementary information document accompanying the Nature article, the company acknowledged for the first time it does own A100 chips and said it had used them in preparatory stages of development.

“Regarding our research on DeepSeek-R1, we utilized the A100 GPUs to prepare for the experiments with a smaller model,” the researchers wrote. After this initial phase, R1 was trained for a total of 80 hours on the 512 chip-cluster of H800 chips, they added.

Reuters has previously reported that one reason DeepSeek was able to attract the brightest minds in China was because it was one of the few domestic companies to operate an A100 supercomputing cluster.

---


Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Andrew Heavens

Albania’s AI ‘minister’ makes its debut with an address to parliament

By The Associated Press
September 18, 2025 

Enio Kaso, head of the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency Licensing shows the AI "minister" Diella, whose name means "Sun" in Albanian, during a conference call in Tirana, Albania, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

TIRANA, Albania — An AI-generated government “minister” made its debut with an address in the Albanian parliament on Thursday, with Prime Minister Edi Rama presenting the bot as a symbol of his government’s push for transparency and innovation.

The government said the bot — named Diella, which means sun in Albanian, and depicted as a woman in traditional Albanian dress — will help tackle corruption in public spending. But opposition lawmakers were highly critical, and believe the program is a way for the government to hide graft.

“The Constitution speaks of institutions at the people’s service. It doesn’t speak of chromosomes, of flesh or blood,” the avatar declared in a three-minute address delivered from two large screens. “It speaks of duties, accountability, transparency, non-discriminatory service.”

“I assure you that I embody such values as strictly as every human colleague, maybe even more,” added the artificial persona.

Rama argued that the AI-generated bot will help the government work faster and with full transparency. It is one element in a larger plan to highlight the Balkan nation’s technological innovations as it works toward European Union membership. Albania hopes to join the 27-member bloc by 2030.


Opposition lawmakers banged their hands on their tables, pushing the speaker to cut short the debate on the government program. The session ended after 25 minutes.

They also boycotted a vote on the Cabinet’s program, but it passed anyway with 82 votes in favor in the 140-seat parliament. The opposition did not explain how it believed the government would exploit Diella to hide corruption in public finances.

Democrats asked for a repeat of the parliamentary session, complaining that the governing Socialists canceled the debate on the Cabinet’s program.

Diella was created earlier this year in cooperation with Microsoft as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform. It has helped users navigate the site and get access to about one million digital inquiries and documents.

“I am not here to replace people but to help them,” the bot said in its address to parliament. “True I have no citizenship, but I have no personal ambition or interests either.”

Llazar Semini, The Associated Press

WHITE COLLAR BLUES

Return to office full-time may require a lifestyle change, revisiting budget

By The Canadian Press
 September 18, 2025 

Financial educator Eduek Brooks estimates the cost of returning to the office five days a week could range anywhere between $800 and $1,000 a month. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paige Taylor White

It’s happening: The trains are overcrowded again. There’s traffic gridlock every weekday morning. There are longer lines at your favourite downtown coffee shop and even longer queues at lunch hour.

The pre-pandemic norm of working five days in the office is coming back for many Canadians, except it’s not exactly the same this time around. The cost of just about everything, from food to gas, has risen significantly from five years ago. But for many office-goers, their paycheques haven’t kept pace.

For those mandated to return to the office, they face increased expenses for transit, parking, meals and even dog-walkers as they prepare to spend more time away from home.Latest economic news on BNNBloomberg.ca

Financial educator Eduek Brooks estimates the cost of returning to the office five days a week could range anywhere between $800 and $1,000 per month. Her calculation includes driving to work, paying for parking and eating out a few times a week as well as additional costs such as buying new clothing and beauty products.

“You’re so used to not having those costs and now going back and doing those things ... There might be that big shock people will see in the first few weeks or even months of going back to work,” Brooks said.


Experts say this may be a time to search for some financial wiggle room for back-to-office expenses.

Caval Olson-Lepage, certified financial planner at Innovation Wealth, said it’s about taking your budget back to the basics of wants versus needs.

“It’s really an awareness of what you’re spending that money on, and is it a need that you have to absolutely spend it?” she said.

For example, instead of buying a coffee every morning, getting it just once a week can help divert upwards of $30 into your commuting budget, she said.

Olson-Lepage recalled how she diverted some of the money she would normally spend on commuting to buying more books during the pandemic.

“Now that I’m going back to work, it’s like, well, as much as I love my books ... I need that money now to go back to spending on gas,” she said.

Sara McCullough said there’s an assumption that working from home was automatically saving people money.

“Are we? Did you get yourself an extra subscription because you weren’t commuting?” asked McCullough, a certified financial planner and founder of WD Development.

McCullough said people need to be realistic about how their spending habits have shifted over the years.

She also said people should consider options for increasing their income, such as negotiating a raise or switching to a higher-paying job to offset growing return-to-work expenses.


McCullough said going back to the office today “isn’t going to be like it was pre-pandemic because you’re not who you were pre-pandemic.”

That means people may have different needs and priorities than they did five years ago.

Olson-Lepage said managing in-office days without upending your household budget takes dedication and discipline.

“If you can plan that time on a Sunday before the work week to prep all of your lunches, then it’s done,” she said. “You don’t have to think about it during the week when you’re more likely to be tired.”

Olson-Lepage said return-to-office is going to be a balancing act for many people as they get used to being outside of the home again.

“It’s definitely not easy, and there is no ... one-size-fits-all formula, but it’s about really just being aware of your situation,” she said.Latest updates on investing here

Brooks suggested people buy snacks in bulk and keep them at their desk to avoid spending money when a snack craving hits.

“You’re not tempted to go to the cafeteria or the vending machine or go out for a coffee midday because you have something that you can snack on,” she said.

However, despite your best efforts to minimize expenses associated with returning to the office, Brooks said people might not be able to save as much as they did while working from home.

“The reality of the matter is that people might not be able to save for the first six months to a year of going back to the office while they’re making these adjustments, especially if you had such a major lifestyle change,” she said.

But as time goes on, she said it will be easier to get a sense of where the savings can happen.

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Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2025.

Will electric tractors gain traction? At a pilot event for farmers, researchers see possibilities

By The Associated Press
September 19, 2025 

MK Bashar, right, test drives an electric tractor as Ben Phillips, left, watches Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, during a demonstration in East Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

EAST LANSING — In the soft dirt of an indoor horseback riding ring last month, a group of farmers got ready to test drive a new piece of equipment: an electric tractor.

As they took turns climbing in — some surprised by its quick acceleration — they gave real-time feedback to the Michigan State University researchers who have been developing it for over two years.

The farmers remarked on the motor’s quiet whir. Most were intrigued, or at least open to the idea. Some were concerned that the battery on the underside of the carriage would mean a lower clearance over the field, while others worried that it would simply be too expensive.

“What we hope to do when we retire is we want to get everything electric on the farm. The tractor is the last electric implement to get,” said Don Dunklee, one of the farmers to provide feedback. He runs a small organic vegetable farm that’s relied on wind and solar for decades.Latest updates on commodities here

The market is fairly new, but some researchers and entrepreneurs think electric tractors will be ideal for small farmers who care about sustainability and want to market their products that way. The small cherry-red, open-cab machine is well-suited for tasks like weeding fields of specialty crops like carrots or asparagus, or squeezing between the tight rows of orchard trees. Farmers with solar panels can avoid the cost of diesel.


Agriculture is among the largest sources of climate-warming emissions worldwide. Though tractors are a small culprit, experts believe an environmentally friendly machine would still attract buyers interested in sustainability.

“There’s reduced emissions, but before you get there, you have to be solving for other problems,” including noise, ease of use and cost, said Derek Muller, business manager for battery electric systems at John Deere.

There are downsides — electric tractors are aimed at filling a niche, not overturning the status quo. And while battery technology has come a long way, they can’t last all day or match the massive horsepower of a diesel engine that sets giant tractors cruising through the sprawling grain and soybean operations of the Midwest.
Why few companies offer electric tractor options, and who wants them

In addition to battery limitations, there are other structural obstacles. Most farmers do not have fast electric chargers, nor do they have solar panels to supply those chargers with free electricity — diesel would need to be much more expensive for the economics to turn sharply in favor of electric. But companies are starting to see an opportunity.

“For John Deere, it is not the only solution,” Muller said. “It’s not going to be where we lead our efforts. It’s going to be one of many options.”

The company has built a small utility electric tractor prototype. It joins a limited set of offerings from other companies like Monarch Tractor, which started in 2019 with the aim to help farmers, who have traditionally struggled with razor-thin profits, save money, work sustainably and more efficiently.

Ajit Srivastava, an agricultural engineer and Michigan State professor who hosted the farmer feedback session, wants to help smallholder farmers across the world. Such farmers grow about a third of the world’s food but many do it with only hand tools. He started trying to emulate a pair of oxen made of off-the-shelf parts, so anyone could build it themselves.

“If we were to mechanize all the smallholder farmers in the world, there isn’t enough diesel out there to power them. So we have to find some other source,” Srivastava said.

It’s still a work in progress. Rain had postponed the feedback session, originally planned for the spring, because the tractor hadn’t been waterproofed yet. It also doesn’t have enough power for some jobs like tilling. But farmers generally like what Srivastava had developed. He hopes it could eventually be sold for roughly US$30,000, substantially cheaper than some of the competition.


“The steering is really responsive. It just seems to run really smooth,” said Dunklee, adding, however, that it might not do everything he needs on a farm yet. “Probably the biggest thing would be it’s relatively quiet.”

Muller said they’re seeing demand for electric tractors from Europe, where farming policies are sometimes more progressive. And there’s also a market at universities in other countries where researchers are studying agriculture, said Brendan Dowdle, chief business officer of Bonsai Robotics, which sells modular, automated electric farm robots that can work together to mimic some tasks ordinarily done by a tractor.

One possible customer is the so-called “gentleman farmer” who has a small operation of specialty crops or vegetables and farms for fun, not necessarily to make a living.

“They want to be self-sustaining,” said Patrick Woolcock, an associate engineering professor and agriculture expert at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Plus, without harmful diesel emissions, they can work in greenhouses and, with fewer parts, there’s hope repairs won’t be as complicated, at least once a readily available supply is established.

Could electric tractors be more compatible with automation?

Some entrepreneurs see electric tractors as a step on the path to automation — fewer workers, more efficiency and less cost. Engineers are now designing machines that will drive themselves and power precise weeders and planters.Latest updates on international news here

For example, Monarch Tractor CEO Praveen Penmetsa noted that if a self-guided tractor gets stuck and has to notify the farmer, electric power has clear benefits. A diesel tractor would sit there idling, but an electric one doesn’t waste fuel while waiting.

Srivastava also said he’s just trying to make people’s lives easier — looking backward all day to make sure a plow is operating properly is grueling. So, a self-driving tractor would let farmers pay more attention to ensuring harvesting is happening properly, or the weeder isn’t accidentally digging up crops.

“Not that we want to take the operator off the tractor, the operator would be there, but they can focus on how well the operation is going rather than making sure the tractor is in the rows,” he said.

Still, some aren’t so sure electric has such a big advantage when it comes to automation. Tim Bucher, CEO of Agtonomy, a company focused on bringing autonomy software to farm vehicles, was all-in on electric a few years ago. But the technology has gotten so good that now his customers can pick and choose the energy source for their tractor and see similar results, he said. And with government electric vehicle subsidies disappearing, there’s less incentive for most farmers to go that route.

On his own farm, though, he opts for electric, and he says he’s seen economic returns.

And from an environmental perspective, “it also just makes me feel better,” he said.

___

Michael Phillis, Melina Walling And Joshua A. Bickel, The Associated Press

How tariffs are impacting the prices of lawnmowers and snowblowers

By Paul Hollingsworth
September 18, 2025 

A man pushes a lawnmower in this undated file image. (Wellington Silva via Pexels)

U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum are driving up the cost of lawnmowers and snowblowers, according to a Halifax vendor who fears the price tag may scare customers away.

“We sell products that are made of steel and aluminum,” said Maritime Lawn and Garden owner Derrick Forgeron. “There is quite a bit of that in the componentry of the equipment.”

According to Forgeron, most of the machines he sells are produced in the U.S., but they are made with steel and aluminum parts from Canada and other parts of the world.

Back in March, the U.S. applied a 25 per cent import tariff on steel and aluminum from all countries, which means, the cost to buy these items is going up, some by roughly 10 per cent or even more.

“And that’s primarily due to those aluminum and steel tariffs I would suggest,” said Forgeron, who added he is concerned the fear of price hikes could chase away customers this winter, when people typically purchase snowblowers. “There is always that fear when prices rise, that you are going to have consumers not spend, because they can’t afford it for whatever reason.”


Customer Rick Kitchin believes high tariffs are the new reality, and he’s resigned to paying more for items in the future.

“Tariffs are a hard thing to handle, because everyone is paying them but as much as much as we hate paying them, we have to,” said Kitchin.

Dalhousie University professor Dan Shaw said tariffs have cause priced instability which results in confusion and fear for customers.

“Customers have reference prices in their head for what they are going to pay for products,” said Shaw. “What was a $1,200 snowblower could now be a $1,500 snowblower. Are people going to buy a low-end snowblower instead of a mid-end snowblower?”

Forgeron said there are other negative impacts on his business. Anticipating tariff-induced supply chain and manufacturing issues, he stockpiled tools, equipment, and machinery to sell in the future. By doing that, he has spent a lot of upfront money and put a financial strain on his company, he said.


Paul Hollingsworth
Journalist, CTV National News

From Skechers to Foot Locker: Tariff chaos spurs record-high footwear, apparel deals

By Reuters
 September 18, 2025

Nike products appear on display at the SIX:02 shop inside Foot Locker's redesigned Manhattan flagship store in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war is helping to push U.S. clothing and footwear acquisitions to all-time highs this year, with some companies merging to help offset tariff costs while others go private to weather the next 3-1/2 years of his presidency outside of the public market, dealmakers say.

Popular sneaker company Skechers announced a US$9.42 billion deal in early May to go private days after it pulled its annual earnings forecasts and sent a letter, along with 75 other footwear companies, telling Trump the tariffs were an “existential threat” to the industry.

Sneaker seller Foot Locker, which also signed the letter to Trump, in May accelerated its US$2.4 billion sale to Dick’s Sporting Goods.Trade War coverage on BNNBloomberg.ca

While both deals were in the works for months, bankers and analysts said Trump’s tariffs are creating both chaos and opportunity for retailers and brands for some tie-ups.

It has driven dealmaking in the U.S. footwear and apparel sectors to roughly US$21 billion in deals announced year-to-date.


With more than three months left in the year, that figure is already a record, according to LSEG data dating to the 1970s, and particularly surprising for an industry where valuations are not nearly as lofty as, say tech or financial services.

The previous record for U.S. apparel and footwear M&A was last year’s US$16.1 billion in deals, and before that, 2021 with US$15.6 billion, according to LSEG.

“Scale is more important in a tariff-rich environment because you can negotiate better terms across a larger base with many of your counterparties,” said Carmen Molinos, Morgan Stanley’s global co-head of consumer retail investment banking.

Morgan Stanley advised Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear on its deal last month to buy U.S. underwear maker Hanesbrands for US$2.2 billion.

Both companies produce more in Central America and the Caribbean than in Asia, and mostly use U.S.-grown cotton, giving them some protection from tariffs. The combination insulates them more from fluctuating geopolitics, and Gildan was one company looking to get bigger amid the chaos.

“We think that we’re really well aligned to take advantage, actually, of this near-shoring opportunity,” Gildan’s CEO and co-founder Glenn Chamandy said on an August investor call about the deal.

Tariffs were a shock to the system that showed retailers just how quickly their businesses can get disrupted and highlighted the importance of scale, several bankers said.

“In moments of turmoil and change, those who are in a position of strength are looking to build up on those strengths and if they see the right strategic fit, they’re taking advantage (and buying),” said JPMorgan’s Jonathan Dunlop, co-head of North America consumer & retail investment banking.

This year, JPMorgan advised 3G Capital for Skechers and brand management firm Authentic Brand Group’s US$1.4 billion deallast month for Guess.

Authentic also picked up Dockers from Levi Strauss, while another brand management firm Bluestar Alliance announced a deal to buy Dickies from VF Corp this week.


Brand management firms typically buy a brand’s IP and then license it to operating partners that have the manufacturing, design and sales responsibilities.

“The brand management companies have been some of the most prolific acquirers of both middle market and a handful of multi-billion dollar retail brands,” said David Shiffman, partner and head of Consumer Retail at Solomon Partners. The bank advised the special committee of Guess.

Navigating the uncertainty

Going private, like in Skechers’ case, is becoming an increasingly attractive option to navigate the uncertainty without the pressure of public quarterly reporting, especially if companies feel the public market is not valuing them appropriately.

Foot Locker, meanwhile, had been in discussions about a sale since Dick’s Executive Chairman Edward Stack first reached out to rival CEO Mary Dillon in January 2024.

Trump’s April 2 self-styled “Liberation Day,” when he announced sweeping new global tariffs, helped seal the deal a bit earlier than expected, according to an SEC filing.

Foot Locker said tariffs were causing the company’s stock to drop and it was headed for a weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings report that executives worried would further drive down its shares.

The board decided on May 10 to try to bring “negotiations to a close quickly,” it said in a securities filing. The next four days were a flurry of paperwork and legal meetings before the companies announced their deal – with two weeks to spare before reporting earnings.

Bankers say to watch for more tie-ups later this year as stronger retailers look for more deals and more struggling companies look for partners.

Private equity firm Bain Capital is trying to offload its stake in Canada Goose and Lands’ End has received offers from brand management firms.

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Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New YorkEditing by Marguerita Choy

In wake of Trump tariffs, Canada must reinvent its economy like it did after Second World War, says Champagne

By Luca Caruso-Moro
September 17, 2025 

Left: Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. Right: U.S. President Donald Trump. (The Canadian Press / The Associated Press)

Canada needs to reinvent its economy like it did after the Second World War, according to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne.

“Our largest trading partner is turning its back on us,” said Champagne during an interview Wednesday on CTV’s Your Morning, where he explained the trade war has pushed the country into “one of those moments” that requires transformational change.

Canada is in trade wars with the U.S. and China, and the economy is showing wounds. Exports fell by 27 per cent in the second quarter after companies rushed orders to get ahead of tariffs earlier this year. As a result, Canada’s trade deficit ballooned.

Gross domestic product slipped by about 1.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year as U.S. tariffs and trade uncertainty weighed on economic activity.

“That is a big decline in the second quarter,” Pedro Antunes, chief economist for the Conference Board of Canada, told CTV News Channel on Wednesday. “We’re not going to see very strong growth in the third. We’re expecting flat.”

“That’s pretty much a recession,” he added.

That context is what pushed Canada’s central bank to drop its key lending rate by a quarter of a per cent on Wednesday, and Antunes said the bank could cut it deeper if the economy remains weakened.

Minister of Finance and National Revenue Francois-Philippe Champagne speaks to reporters about the upcoming federal budget.
Canada in 1945

In the face of commercial turmoil, rising joblessness and uncertainty, Champagne said Canada needs to reinvent its economy as it did in 1945.

Canadians saw an era of economic prosperity in the postwar period, which fed into an explosion in suburbs development, transportation expansion and hydroelectric infrastructure. Cars, televisions and other goods finally became accessible to consumers that were previously too expensive or unavailable because of wartime restrictions.

“They did this collective effort to put Canada on a strong footing for success for the next 50, 80 years,” said Champagne.

“We’ve done it before, we’re going to do it again. We attract a lot of talent. We build ships. We build planes. We build cars. We have critical minerals. We have energy. We are the only G7 country with a free trade agreement with all the other G7 nations.”

Valleyfield, Quebec;1945--Industries Textiles--"Roving frames" operation in Montreal Cottons Textile factory. 

(CP PHOTO) 1999 ( National Archives of Canada/Nicholas Morant ) PA-160560

But the future of one of those agreements – the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA – is uncertain.

CUSMA shields Canada from the bulk of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. It’s up for review on July 1, 2026. The United States has formally begun its public consultation process ahead of that review.


Trump negotiated the deal during his first term and has publicly praised it since then. Though he has also questioned whether its still necessary.

The Liberal budget

Champagne, speaking to Your Morning about the upcoming federal budget, said it would bring a “generational investment in our future” and promised some sort of relief to Trump’s tariffs.

The Liberals will table their budget on Nov. 4 – Champagne’s first as finance minister. The federal budget typically arrives in the spring but the Liberals delayed it until the fall. The prime minister has billed the budget as one of both cost-cutting and investment.Liberals will table the federal budget on Nov. 4, Champagne says

“If you’re in the auto-sector today, or if you’re in the steel sector, obviously the tariffs that have been imposed by our trading partner have been hurting. … We need to support our workers as we transition to a more resilient economy.”

Asked where that money would be reallocated from, Champagne said the government is working to cut its own operating expenses, and vowed to balance the operating budget within three years.


Luca Caruso-Moro
CTVNews.ca Breaking Digital Assignment Editor

Canadian business travel to the U.S. remained resilient in the first half of the year

By The Canadian Press
 September 19, 2025 

An Air Canada plane takes off from Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Canadians might be shunning leisurely visits to the U.S., but new data shows corporate travel appears to be business as usual.

Despite political tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs and fears of treatment at the border, data from SAP Concur suggests Canadian business travel to the U.S. during the first half of the year has remained stable compared with last year’s levels, even if it means some companies are taking more precautions at the border.

During the six-month period that ended June 30, the data showed the U.S. accounted for 79 per cent of corporate travel from Canada.

“Despite the political tension and the economic uncertainties right now between Canada and the U.S., the U.S. remains to be an absolutely critical partner with the majority of Canadian businesses,” said Brian Veloso, managing director at SAP Concur Canada.

The next most popular destinations included the U.K., which accounted for three per cent of Canadian business trips during the period, and Germany, which accounted for two per cent.


The figures also show Canada was the No. 1 international destination for corporate travel from the U.S.

On a global scale, Canada was ranked as the fourth most popular destination for international business travel.

The steady business travel comes as overall Canadian resident return trips from the U.S. were down 28.7 per cent in June year-over-year, continuing a trend that has been ongoing since earlier this year as Canada-U.S. tensions flared.

Danielle Riddle, CEO of corporate travel services firm Inspired Travel Group, said that based on what she is seeing, U.S. travel continues to be “essential for a lot of Canadian businesses.”

“Many of our clients have head offices, partners or major clients in the U.S. So those trips, they’re not going away,” she said.

Corporate travel was replaced by video calls during the pandemic, but as restrictions lifted, Riddle said companies going on deal-making trips to pitch to a firm across the border or try to land an account once again saw the benefits of getting on a plane for in-person meetings.

“As soon as that started happening again, companies thought, ‘Well, our competitive advantage is that we’re not just going to schedule a video call with you, we will be there,’” Riddle said.

Jenny Kost, a business travel expert at Flight Centre Travel Group Canada, said U.S. and Canadian businesses tend to be closely linked because of their geography.

“Many of the customers that we work with have a trans-border presence. And so it’s really critical for them to continue making sure that those partnerships are strong and that they have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the businesses across both sides of the border,” she said.

Though appetite for in-person cross-border meetings has grown, stories have emerged about stricter treatment at the border since Trump took office in January.

Beth Nanton, a partner and U.S. immigration practice leader at KPMG Law, said some companies have made changes to how they approach U.S. travel.


“I would say companies have been more careful in terms of how they’re preparing their employees,” Nanton said.

She said some that previously handed business travel letters or work permit assessments in-house are now seeking external counsel.

“We’ve had a few companies engage us for business traveller assessments that previously were not using external counsel at all,” she said.

Nanton said she generally advises firms to expect travel times to be longer.

“We’re advising people to allow more time because the overall process hasn’t exactly changed, but I will say the additional questioning can just lead to overall longer processing time,” she said.

Additionally, Nanton noted that a lot of Canadians are opting to cross the border at a pre-clearance facility at an international airport on Canadian soil.

Still, increased scrutiny at the border has spurred some companies to look more carefully at their travel activities.

“The requirements in terms of the law have not changed, but certainly there is increased scrutiny on the activities being carried out by the travellers to ensure that they align with the visa category or immigration category under which they’re seeking admission,” Nanton said.

“I do think that has caused companies, rightfully so, to take a more careful look at the activities being carried out and whether or not a work permit is in fact needed, which would lead to additional documentation being provided to that traveller before they actually take that trip.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press