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Carney Won’t Table A Budget This Year

The Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney will not table a federal budget this year, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne confirmed Wednesday, opting instead for a fall economic statement—a move opposition leaders and economists warn undermines Ottawa’s fiscal credibility amid mounting economic uncertainty.

The decision marks the first time since 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that Canada has gone without an annual budget. Champagne defended the delay, citing the need to prioritize passing a promised middle-class tax cut and a throne speech before Parliament adjourns in June.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• ‘We’re Going to Have a Real Problem’: Critics Warn About New Housing Minister (theDeepDive)

• Annual pace of housing starts in April up 30 per cent from March: CMHC (BNN)

• Canadian Housing Starts Surge 30% in April, Driven by Gains in Quebec and Prairies (theDeepDive)

• Trump reiterates desire to take over Gaza Strip, says U.S. would make it a ‘freedom zone’ (Globe)

• NY Fed: Student Loan Crisis Emerges as Delinquencies Jump (theDeepDive)

• GOP Tax Bill Seen Masking More Than $1 Trillion US Debt Hit (Bloomberg)

• NJ Deli at Center of $100M Stock Fraud Case Leads to Prison Sentence (theDeepDive)

• Trump Scolds Apple for Building Factories in India (WSJ)

• Toronto’s Housing Crash Isn’t a Correction—It’s a Reckoning (theDeepDive)

• Oil prices fall 2% on expectations for US-Iran nuclear deal (Reuters)

• TikTok Hit With €530M Fine for Sending EU Data to China (theDeepDive)

• U.S. Supreme Court grapples with Trump bid to restrict birthright citizenship (Globe)

What’s the latest?

• Wall Street: U.S. stocks fell Thursday with the S&P 500 down 0.3%, the Dow down 139 points, and the Nasdaq off 0.8% amid mixed economic signals. April retail sales were weaker than expected, while wholesale inflation came in softer, and jobless claims beat forecasts. Treasury yields dropped, with the 10-year at 4.49% and the 2-year at 3.99%, as traders raised bets on Fed rate cuts by September. Oil prices slid ~2.5% on potential U.S.–Iran nuclear talks.

• Real Estate: Canadian home sales fell 9.8% year-over-year in April to 44,300 units, with the average home price down 3.9% to $679,866. New listings dipped 1% month-over-month, while overall inventory rose 14.3% from last year but remains below the long-term average. CREA’s price index dropped 1.2% from March, and housing starts surged 30% from March, per CMHC. Economists cite tariff uncertainty and economic risks as key factors keeping buyers sidelined.

• Enbridge: Enbridge is selling a 12.5% stake in its 2,900-km Westcoast natural gas pipeline to 36 First Nations in B.C. for $715 million. The Stonlasec8 Indigenous Alliance will secure a $400 million loan guarantee from Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corp. to support the deal. This partnership is expected to bring long-term economic benefits to the communities and close by Q2 2025. Enbridge continues to pursue Indigenous partnerships, including a 200 MW wind project in Saskatchewan announced last year.

• Crypto: Coinbase expects a financial impact of $180M–$400M from a cyberattack that compromised customer data but not login credentials. Hackers paid contractors to access internal info, leading Coinbase to fire involved parties and offer reimbursements to affected users. The company declined a $20M ransom and instead posted a $20M reward for info on the attackers. The breach comes just ahead of Coinbase's inclusion in the S&P 500.

• Walmart: Walmart’s Q1 profit dropped to $4.45B (56¢/share) from $5.10B last year, though adjusted EPS of 61¢ beat expectations. Revenue rose 2.5% to $165.61B, with U.S. comparable sales up 4.5% and global e-commerce sales up 22%. Tariffs have forced Walmart to raise prices despite 60% of U.S. sales being grocery-based and two-thirds of merchandise sourced domestically. Trump’s tariff changes created uncertainty, prompting Walmart to maintain its full-year guidance but avoid a Q2 profit forecast.

Why Precious Metals Crashed on Trump’s Trade Deals?

The stock market and stuff

• Coinbase Refuses To Pay $20M Ransom For Leaked Data (theDeepDive)

• Walmart to raise prices despite US-China trade deal (FT)

• UnitedHealth Group Is Under Criminal Investigation for Possible Medicare Fraud (WSJ)

• G Mining Sees Decline In Q1 2025 Revenue, Production, Cash Flow (theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• Vizsla Silver Enters Option Agreement To Acquire Santa Fe Project With Small Scale Operating Mine (theDeepDive)

• Lithium battery recycling firm Li-Cycle files for bankruptcy protection in Canada (Globe)

• Snowline Gold Increases Resource Estimate To 8.8 Million Ounces At Valley (theDeepDive)

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