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Canada has a massive housing shortfall with current immigration levels

At the rate the Canadian government is going, the surge in population is starting to look less like a carefully devised plan to bolster the labor market and more like a recipe for inflating home prices.

Canada is seeing a staggering surge in population growth, with the latest quarter exploding by a net total of over 430,600, marking the third-largest quarterly increase on record. The annual growth rate reached 3.2%, totaling 1.25 million in the past year — the highest for any 12-month period. This growth, primarily fueled by immigration, hasn’t been seen since 1958, despite the considerably smaller population at that time.

BMO Capital Markets recently weighed in and estimated that at this rate, Canada needs 170,000 new houses every three months to accommodate households with 2.5 people — “even before accounting for domestic household formation.”

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• Rite Aid Banned from Using AI Facial Recognition by the FTC (theDeepDive)

• Colorado Supreme Court justices getting violent threats after their ruling against Trump (CBS)

• Vivek Ramaswamy Withdraws from Colorado Primary Ballot in Support of Donald Trump, Colorado GOP Says No Need (theDeepDive)

• The US Dollar Isn’t Going Anywhere, SWIFT Data Shows (theDeepDive)

• China bans export of rare earth processing tech over national security (Reuters)

• Tesla Has An Accident Problem, New Report Finds (theDeepDive)

• Oil Companies Are Just Waiting for Trudeau to Get Kicked Out (theDeepDive)

• Angola Quits OPEC Amid Dispute Over Oil Production Quotas (Bloomberg)

• Meta On Threads Not Accessible For Canadian News: It’s Bug, Not Block (theDeepDive)

• SEC Charges Stimwave CEO With $41 Million Fraud For A “Fake Piece Of Plastic” Implanted Into Patients (theDeepDive)

• Canada to give Toronto C$471 million to fight housing crisis (Reuters)

What’s the latest?

• Retail Sales Slow: In November, Canadian retail spending likely slowed, with an advance estimate from Statistics Canada indicating flat receipts, following a 0.7% increase in October. The October surge was driven by gains in various subsectors, notably a 1.1% rise at car and parts dealers. General merchandise, health and personal care, and clothing sales also saw increases, while gasoline stations and fuel vendors experienced a decline.

• Frequent Flyers Targeted: The U.S. Transportation Department is intensifying its oversight of major U.S. airlines, particularly focusing on their frequent flyer programs. Concerns have been raised about potentially deceptive or unfair practices in these loyalty programs. The Department has been engaging with airlines to discuss various aspects of these programs, including the transparency of award ticket booking, miles transferability, and notification procedures for program changes.

• Ag Consolidation: Linamar Corp. has agreed to acquire Bourgault Industries Ltd. for $640 million, positioning Bourgault as part of Linamar's new agriculture division within its industrial segment. This acquisition, described as a significant diversification and growth opportunity for Linamar's agriculture platform, marks Linamar's third strategic purchase in 2023.

• Quebec Teacher Strike Escalates: Members of the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement, a striking teachers' union, blocked access to the Montreal and Quebec City ports and the Casino du Lac-Leamy in protest against slow negotiations with the Quebec government. They rejected the government's latest offer and are demanding improvements in salaries, working conditions, and class sizes.

• More Hunting Dollars Wasted: Since 2015 the British Columbia government has spent over $10 million on a wolf cull program, aiming to reduce wolf populations to protect endangered caribou herds. This controversial program involves aerial shooting from helicopters, deemed the most effective and humane method by the province. The initiative has resulted in the culling of 1,944 wolves and is part of a broader caribou recovery program that includes habitat protection and caribou maternity penning.

The Panama Canal Drought

The stock market and stuff

• What Could A Warner Bros. Discovery–Paramount Global Merger Mean For Us? (theDeepDive)

• Toy retailer Mastermind to stop accepting gift cards after Christmas Eve (BNN)

• Harbour Energy strikes $11.2 billion deal for Wintershall Dea assets (Reuters)

• Apple resolves outage affecting its payment features, including Apple Pay, Card, Cash and Wallet (CNBC)

• Crescent Point Energy completes deal to buy Hammerhead Energy (BNN)

In the juniors

• LithiumBank Secures $8 Million Deposit Under New Option Arrangement For Sask Lithium Properties (theDeepDive)

• Galiano Gold To Buy Out Gold Fields Stake In Asanko Gold Mine (theDeepDive)

• VERSES AI Sees Volvo Car Group Join Genius Beta Program (theDeepDive)

• Libero Copper Walks From Copper-Gold Porphyry Project In Argentina Over Cost Complaints (theDeepDive)

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