Category: Canada

New Free Trade Deal With U.S. Will See Canada’s Duty-Free Limit Raised To $150 From $20 | CBC News

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Retailers say they are OK with new trade rules that will allow Canadians to buy more from the United States duty free — because dire alternatives that would have been worse never came to pass. One aspect of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement announced over the weekend is an increase in the so-called de minimis threshold for duty-free shopping — the amount that Canadians can buy from a store in the U.S. and import to Canada without having to pay a duty. Under the old rules, Canada’s limit was $20. That’s much less than…

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Loonie Soars In The Wake Of The New Trade Deal With The U.S. And Mexico | CTV News

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The loonie traded higher at 78.13 cents US compared with an average of 77.25 cents US on Friday. While most economists have been expecting the Bank of Canada to raise its key interest rate target later this month, the trade negotiations have been a key uncertainty. The central bank had made a point of saying it was closely watching the NAFTA talks and other trade policy developments, which could hurt the economy. Read full story here: Loonie Soars In The Wake Of The New Trade Deal With The U.S. And Mexico…

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Canadian Borrowers Will Feel This Week’s U.S. Interest Rate Hike: Don Pittis | CBC News

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Markets are so certain that U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will raise rates this week that a failure to hike would likely have worse consequences for American markets than the impact of higher borrowing costs. But the near certainty so cherished by market traders — who hate rude surprises — will provide little reassurance for the millions of people around the world, including over-borrowed Canadians, who will inevitably feel the effects of higher rates. And not only are market indicators showing a 100 percent expectation of a rate hike on Wednesday, most analysts expect another increase in December,…

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RCMP And Privacy Commissioner Probe Alleged NCIX Data Breach | CBC News

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The RCMP and Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia are investigating allegations of a possible data breach involving the bankrupt computer retailer NCIX. Authorities are investigating a claim that NCIX’s database servers have been advertised for sale online with all of the information still intact. In doing so, it may have compromised the security of countless customers. According to a statement from Richmond RCMP, the case was opened Thursday and police have seized the servers. Read full story here: RCMP And Privacy Commissioner Probe Alleged NCIX Data Breach | CBC News  

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Privacy Experts Say Choosing Life Insurance Tied To Fitness Tracking Could Have Unintended Consequences | CBC News

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Privacy experts say they’re concerned life-insurance programs that reward customers for behaviours like logging their activity using a fitness tracker could have unintended consequences for the safety of their personal data. Insurance giant John Hancock, owned by Canadian company Manulife Financial Corp., announced Thursday a switch to “interactive” life-insurance policies only, which offer incentives for things like wearing a Fitbit or other fitness tracker. Customers in John Hancock’s program — a partnership with Vitality Group — do not have to log their activities to get coverage, but can receive discounts or other perks if they do. The…

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Ontario Government Moves To Scrap Green Energy Act | CTV News

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TORONTO — The Ontario government has introduced legislation to scrap the Green Energy Act, which aimed to bolster the province’s renewable energy industry. Premier Doug Ford promised to repeal the act during the spring election campaign. The law was introduced by the previous Liberal government in 2009 under former premier Dalton McGuinty in a bid to grow the province’s solar and wind energy supply. Critics of the Green Energy Act have said it resulted in an increase in electricity costs and saw the province overpay for power it did not…

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Will Your Cannabis Credit Card Purchases Be Visible To U.S. Border Officials? (Some Might, Some Won’t.) – National | Globalnews.ca

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Legalizing cannabis is a complicated business with lots of moving parts. The question of how a credit card marijuana purchase will appear on your statement would seem not to make a list of the top 50 issues. And it wouldn’t, except for two awkward facts: U.S. law allows border officials to ban Canadians for life from their country for using marijuana in this country, even when it’s legal here. (A senior official confirmed last week that they are willing to do this in practice.) Read full story here: Will Your Cannabis Credit…

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Canadians Who Smoke Marijuana Legally, Or Work Or Invest In The Industry, Will Be Barred From The U.S.: Customs and Border Protection Official | The Star

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WASHINGTON—Canadians will be barred from entering the United States for smoking marijuana legally, for working in Canada’s legal marijuana industry and for investing in legal Canadian marijuana companies, a senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection official says. Todd Owen, who spoke to the U.S. website Politico, said the U.S. does not plan to change its border policies to account for Canada’s marijuana legalization, which takes effect on Oct. 17. “We don’t recognize that as a legal business,” said Owen, executive assistant commissioner for the office of field operations. Owen’s comments…

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Sobeys Parent Empire Co. Warns Food Prices Will Rise Partly Due To New Tariffs | CBC News

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The parent company of grocery chain Sobeys Inc. was “a little slow on the trigger” to pass on the higher cost of food to consumers due to tariff costs, but it will inevitably happen in the future, Empire Company Ltd. CEO Michael Medline said Thursday. “It’s clear with what’s going on in terms of transportation cost and tariff-related cost that our expectation — although we’re not economists — is that there will be some inflation,” he said during a conference call with analysts after the company released its first-quarter earnings…

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Big Telcos Tell CRTC They Put Customers First And Shun Shady Sales Tactics | CBC News

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Canada’s big telecom companies are fighting back against allegations of shady sales practices, defending themselves as ethical corporations relentlessly focused on customer satisfaction. “Our customers are treated in a fair and respectful manner when purchasing the services we offer,” Rogers wrote in a submission to the CRTC. The broadcast regulator requested information from the telcos after launching an inquiry in July into allegations of  misleading and aggressive sales practices. Over the past two months, the CRTC has received more than 1,000 comments from telecom customers, complaining about everything from misleading promotions to being…

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