Canada News

Canada Post makes new offers to union ahead of strike deadline

New offer made to union

Photo: The Canadian Press

A Canada Post worker arrives for work in Montreal on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Canada Post has issued a new set of offers to the union representing postal workers as the clock ticks down to a possible strike.

The Crown corporation confirmed Wednesday it has filed a new set of proposals for workers in the urban bargaining unit and the rural and suburban units.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said its negotiating team was set to examine the proposals this afternoon.

The new offers come days after the union issued a strike notice that could see postal workers back on the picket line on Friday.

A bulletin from CUPW president Jan Simpson issued shortly after noon said the union will review the offers to ensure they align with the needs of its 55,000 members.

Canada Post said it has enhanced its wage offer for workers, with a gain of six per cent in year one, three per cent in year two and two per cent in years three and four, for a compounded increase of 13.59 per cent.

The proposal would come with six additional personal days on the calendar and better income replacement for short-term disability leave, the Crown corporation said.

Canada Post said it is also no longer proposing a new health benefits plan, changes to employees' post-retirement benefits or enrolling future employees in the defined-contribution pension.

One sticking point addressed in Canada Post's latest round of offers is the prospect of adding a corps of part-time workers that would allow for seven-day-a-week delivery.

Canada Post said in its new offers that it would provide health and pension benefits and schedule guaranteed hours for part-time workers.

It also would roll out an "initial, limited implementation" of dynamic routing — a move that would allow Canada Post to change routes daily to make more efficient use of workers' time.

The union accused Canada Post of walking away from the table after the Crown corporation paused negotiations last week.

That pause came before the release of a federally commissioned report on the viability of Canada Post's flagging business model in the context of labour negotiations.

Commissioner William Kaplan, who led the inquiry that drafted the 162-page report, wrote in it that Canada Post faces an "existential crisis." He recommended phasing out daily door-to-door mail delivery, among other structural changes to the postal service.

Canada Post has warned of delays in mail deliveries if the union resumes its strike, which was interrupted over the holiday season when the federal government intervened in the labour dispute.

Western premiers meet in Yellowknife to talk trade, energy and Arctic security

Premiers in Yellowknife

Photo: The Canadian Press

British Columbia Premier David Eby, from left, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok during a media availability at the 2024 Western Premiers’ Conference in Whitehorse, Monday, June 10, 2024. 

Premiers from Western Canada are to meet Wednesday to kick off a two-day conference in Yellowknife.

Set to attend are Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, British Columbia's David Eby, Saskatchewan's Scott Moe, Manitoba's Wab Kinew, Nunavut's P.J. Akeeagok, Yukon's outgoing Premier Ranj Pillai and Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson.

This annual conference comes two weeks before all Canada's premiers are to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Saskatoon.

A statement from Simpson's office last week said the western leaders are set to discuss a range of issues, including Arctic sovereignty, energy security, international trade and emergency preparedness.

Housing, economic corridors and tariffs are also on the agenda.

Smith said the meeting is taking place at a "critical moment" for Alberta, in the wake of last month's federal election. She said she plans to advocate for new pipelines.

"We cannot afford federal overreach into provincial jurisdiction to continue or damaging federal policies to impact the upward trajectory of our economies," Smith said Tuesday in a statement.

"I will be at the table to advocate for Alberta’s interests, particularly the importance of new pipelines, in an effort to put the power of our economy back in the hands of western Canadians.”

Eby said Tuesday that Western Canada is "leading the country, being the engine of the economy for Canada," but he lamented talk of western separatism in the lead-up to the meeting.

“I think it's really unfortunate that at this moment, when Western Canada is stepping into the spotlight, that there's any discussion at all about leaving Canada,” Eby told an unrelated news conference.

“I mean, to advance that at the moment, it's strange.”

Akeeagok said in an email he's looking to push the conversation forward on Arctic security and infrastructure projects needed to strengthen it.

The long-discussed Grays Bay Road and Port proposal, which would connect Yellowknife to the eastern Arctic coast by road, would help unlock the North's vast economic potential, he said.

"The Arctic holds incredible promise and, through strategic investments in critical infrastructure, we can responsibly access key resources, including critical minerals," he said.

A spokesperson for Moe said the premier plans to discuss items he recently urged Carney to act on, including strengthening the Criminal Code, giving provinces full responsibility for the industrial carbon levy, repealing clean electricity regulations and expanding pipelines.

Moe has said he also wants Carney to immediately begin negotiations with China to remove Beijing's tariffs on Canadian agricultural goods.

Union head says new federal government needs to regain public servants' trust

Public servants' trust broken

Photo: The Canadian Press

The Canadian flag flies on the Peace Tower of Parliament Hill as pedestrians make their way along Sparks Street Mall in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021.  

The head of one of Canada's largest federal unions says the federal government needs to focus on repairing the relationship between public servants and management.

Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, said this is a "delicate moment" and that new Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali has his work cut out for him.

Prier said the Trudeau government made several questionable decisions that eroded trust among workers. They included a messy return-to-office rollout that was conducted without consulting employees, he said.

"Trust is pretty broken because of a long pattern of bad-faith consultation and disrespect for evidence-based decision making," he said.

The previous government's decision to require that public servants spend more time in the office sparked outrage among some public service unions. Several unions held rallies and filed grievances in response.

Prier said he'd like to see the government grant remote work rights to any employee who asks to work from home.

He said there's a lingering sense of unease and instability among workers after the former government's staffing reductions in several departments and agencies, including the Canada Revenue Agency and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

"We hope that (Treasury Board) President Ali can break with his predecessors and focus on strengthening the public service so they can really mount a strong response to the global chaos that we're currently in," said Prier, adding the government should focus on reducing spending on outside contractors and reversing employee cuts made before the election.

Prier also said he hopes Ali will push back against "arbitrary austerity measures" and said Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to be more specific about his plans and examine his program needs before making cuts.

Carney has vowed to cap, not cut, the federal public service. He has also promised to launch a "comprehensive" review of government spending with the aim of increasing its productivity.

Evert Lindquist, a professor at the University of Victoria's school of administration and former editor of Canadian Public Administration, said the public service has been "a bit of a punching bag" over the last few years.

Lindquist said the public service has been criticized for both its size and the quality and delivery of its services. In the last 10 years, the size of the federal public service has grown from 257,034 employees to 357,965.

"It hasn't been a time to be proud of being a public servant," Lindquist said, adding he hopes the new government offers a "new sense of urgency and priorities."

Lindquist said public service restructuring is "long overdue" and while some programs may be eliminated, other areas of the public service will have to concentrate on new priorities.

"I'm confident that two or three years from now, we're going to say that we have a very different kind of institution," Lindquist said.

"My optimism is that we're finally at a moment where the government needs to look these problems squarely in the eye, decide what's important and begin to move forward."

Prier said several federal unions, including CAPE, will be back in bargaining soon and that the new Treasury Board president will face a "pretty imminent test of his leadership."

"Federal workers are furious at the inefficiencies and the political games of the last government and they're ready to fight for what's right if need be," he said. "Minister Ali can avoid a fight by starting an evidence-based dialogue right off the bat and engaging us in good faith."

Sharon DeSousa, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said the union is going back into contract negotiations with the government in June on behalf of more than 120,000 federal public service workers and will be pushing on issues like remote work.

MP Joël Lightbound will also play a major role in reshaping the public service as minister of government transformation, public works and procurement.

The Canadian Press reached out to Ali and Lightbound for comment but neither were available.

Former clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick said that, since they're both new ministers, Ali and Lightbound are likely to be "highly dependent" on Treasury Board staff in the early days.

Wernick said the ministers should get outside of Ottawa and visit "as many corners of the public service" as they can, from Coast Guard ships to national parks. He said they should also be speaking with unions and hosting town halls with employees.

Wernick said the relationship between unions and management will never be "absolutely smooth and harmonious" and "there's always going to be a degree of tension."

"But it doesn't have to be dysfunctional or mean or disrespectful," he said.

Lightbound has been named vice-chair of the new cabinet committee on government transformation and efficiency tasked with improving service delivery and reducing government expenditures.

Prier said his union has warned repeatedly against a "DOGE experiment" in Canada — a reference to the highly controversial "Department of Government Efficiency" set up by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to slash the size of the federal government.

"We're very supportive of efficiency," Prier said, noting that CAPE is working with other organizations to build a coalition to lobby against the establishment of a DOGE agency in Canada.

"If we're serious about getting through the crisis and facing down Trump, we're going to need a strong response to it. And losing your top talent right at the start of that crisis is the exact wrong approach," Prier said.

DeSousa said the union expects to be consulted about government transformation.

"Major changes to the way the government operates will inevitably impact public services and the workers who deliver them," she said, adding that the union wants clarity about Lightbound’s mandate and plans to cap the size of government.

Hockey player continues testimony at former world junior teammates' trial

Teammates' trial continues

Photo: The Canadian Press

A composite image of five photographs show former members of Canada's 2018 World Juniors hockey team, left to right, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube and Carter Hart as they individually arrived to court in London, Ont.

A former member of Canada's world junior hockey team is expected to continue his testimony today at the sexual assault trial of five of his ex-teammates.

Brett Howden, who now plays in the NHL for the Vegas Golden Knights, began testifying by videoconference Tuesday.

Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Callan Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.

McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

The charges relate to an encounter with a woman in a hotel room in London, Ont., in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018.

Howden told the court Tuesday he went to McLeod's room to order food and hang out with his teammates, and was surprised to see a woman there.

Trump says Canada has asked to join his Golden Dome missile defence program

Golden Dome over Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday aspects of his plan for a "Golden Dome" missile defence shield and said "it automatically makes sense" for Canada to be involved.

"Canada has called us and they want to be a part of it," Trump said. "So we'll be talking to them. They want to have protection also, so as usual we help Canada.”

The president claims the complex multilayered system will cost $175 billion and that it will be completed within his term, which ends in 2029. He said it will "deploy next generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors."

Trump said the system will be able to intercept missiles launched from the other side of the world, or from space.

Trump campaigned on a plan to create a "Golden Dome," based on Israel's "Iron Dome" defence network — but some critics have said it would be too costly and too difficult to deploy over such a large land mass.

Despite Trump's cost claims, the Congressional Budget Office estimated earlier this month that the space-based components of the program could alone cost as much as $542 billion over the next 20 years.

Trump said Tuesday his administration will work with Canada on "pricing" and "they’ll pay their fair share."

“We are dealing with them on pricing. They know about it very much," he said.

The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that Canadians gave Prime Minister Mark Carney "a strong mandate to negotiate a comprehensive new security and economic relationship with the United States."

"To that end, the prime minister and his ministers are having wide-ranging and constructive discussions with their American counterparts," the statement said. "These discussions naturally include strengthening Norad and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome."

Canada and the United States already work together through the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad. It's unclear what role Canada would play in the "Golden Dome" or what price tag would accompany the collaboration.

Canada has long been criticized by multiple U.S. administrations for not meeting the NATO membership defence spending target.

Trump has repeatedly claimed the U.S. protects Canada and has called for more Arctic security to push back on an increase in Russian and Chinese presence in the region. Some experts have said the president's threats of annexation toward Greenland and Canada are partially rooted in Arctic concerns.

Ottawa has also indicated the need to expand its defence investing. Carney has pledged to hit that NATO target — the equivalent of two per cent of gross domestic product — by 2030.

In March, Carney announced a $6 billion radar purchase from Australia and an expansion of military operations in the Arctic. The Over-the-Horizon Radar system is expected to provide early warning radar coverage from the Canada-United States border into the Arctic, the prime minister's office said at the time.

Last year's defence policy update committed to an investment in integrated air and missile defence.

Trump seemed to take notice of Canada's efforts during a meeting with Carney at the White House earlier this month. The president said "Canada is stepping up the military participation."

Here's what you need to know about King Charles and Queen Camilla's visit to Ottawa

The King's plans in Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press

Britain's King Charles, centre left, and Queen Camilla leave after visiting the Canada House Trafalgar Square in London on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 to mark 100 years since it opened in June 1925. (Arthur Edwards/Pool via AP)

King Charles will drop the puck at a road hockey game and visit an Ottawa farmers market next week during his first visit to Canada since his coronation.

People in Ottawa will get multiple chances for a glimpse of the King and Queen during their short trip to the city.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government have invited the King to formally open the new session of Parliament on Tuesday as Canada's head of state.

This will be the third time a monarch has presided over Canada's throne speech, after Queen Elizabeth did so in 1957 and during her Silver Jubilee in 1977.

The visit is being presented as a symbol of Canada's close ties to the monarchy at a time when the U.S. president has threatened Canadian sovereignty.

Philippe Lagassé, an associate professor at Carleton University and an expert in the monarchy, said the moment is right for such a visit.

"(It's) really meant to highlight that our institutions are long-standing, that we are different, that our sovereignty still matters," he said.

Lagassé pointed out that Donald Trump is an admirer of the Royal Family and the U.S. president was particularly pleased to be invited by King Charles to an unprecedented second state visit in London.

Lagassé also said it "misses the point" to suggest that the royal visit is meant to shore up Canada's relationship with the United Kingdom.

"That office is still the highest office of our state, and at a time when the very existence of our state is being questioned, it's useful to have a very powerful symbol like that," he said.

"It's rare that Canada gets to employ the Crown in this way."

King Charles and Queen Camilla will arrive in the national capital on Monday, May 26, in the early afternoon.

Their first event that is open to the public will be a community gathering at Lansdowne Park, where the royal couple is expected to greet onlookers and visit a farmers market starting at 1:50 p.m.

The King is also set to drop the puck for a road hockey game at Lansdowne.

Canadian government officials who briefed reporters on background said the event is meant to be festive and that people will be able to attend on a first-come, first-served basis.

There will be extensive security around all of the events on Monday and Tuesday. The officials said there likely will be road closures around the downtown as well.

Government officials also said a Canadian doctor will travel with the King and Queen — a standard precaution. The King has been undergoing cancer treatment for more than a year.

Later Monday, the King and Queen will travel to Rideau Hall for a tree-planting ceremony — a traditional feature of royal visits — around 2:50 p.m.

Inside Rideau Hall, the Queen will be sworn in as a member of the King's Privy Council. Officials said Prince Philip was also a member of Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council in Canada.

On Tuesday, King Charles will read the Liberal government's throne speech inside the Senate chamber.

The day will begin at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday with a parade along Wellington Street.

The Royal couple will travel in the state landau — a horse-drawn carriage — from the Bank of Canada building to the Senate, escorted by members of the RCMP musical ride.

At the Senate building, King Charles will inspect an honour guard before a 21-gun salute.

The public is allowed to attend the parade but there will be traffic restrictions and security in place along the route.

The speech from the throne, which sets out the government's priorities at the start of a new session of Parliament, is typically presented by the Governor General as the Crown's representative. King Charles is expected to read the speech in both official languages.

Guests invited to hear the speech in the Senate chamber will include members of Parliament, former prime ministers and governors general, current Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and lieutenant-governors from across the country.

The Supreme Court of Canada justices are also invited to attend, along with Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed and Métis National Council President Victoria Pruden.

The day's ceremonies will include First Nations drummers, a Métis fiddler and an Inuk elder lighting a ceremonial fire.

The speech itself is set to get underway at around 11:10 a.m. and will be broadcast and livestreamed.

Carney told reporters last week that having the King present the throne speech is a "historic honour that matches the weight of our times" and underscores Canada's sovereignty.

The royal visit will end with a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. King Charles and Queen Camilla are set to return to the United Kingdom on Tuesday afternoon.

Carney met with King Charles in London during his first overseas trip as prime minister in mid-March. Charles also met with outgoing prime minister Justin Trudeau two weeks earlier.

At the time, royal watchers noted that Buckingham Palace had been ramping up its subtle symbolic support for Canada.

The King met with the Usher of the Black Rod, a senior Senate official, and offered him a new ceremonial sword. He also wore Canadian military honours and planted a red maple on the palace grounds at events in March.

The King's role is non-political and Buckingham Palace has said it will not comment on the trade war or Trump's calls for Canada's annexation.

Charles has visited Canada 19 times in the past — most recently in May 2022 to mark Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, when he was still Prince of Wales.

The last time the sovereign was on Canadian soil was 2010, when Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Ontario.

Canadians have more trust in Carney than they did in Trudeau: Poll

More trust than in Trudeau

Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney departs his office ahead of a cabinet meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Canadians have more trust in Prime Minister Mark Carney now than they did in former prime minister Justin Trudeau after he was first elected and during his last days in office, a new poll suggests.

The Proof Strategies CanTrust Index survey, conducted annually by The Logit Group, polled 1,250 Canadians between May 5 and 14.

It suggests that 52 per cent of Canadians said they trust Carney as of May 2025, while just 26 per cent said they trusted Trudeau in January.

A 2016 poll from Proof Strategies, which has been tracking trust for a decade, suggested that only 46 per cent of Canadians trusted Trudeau at the time.

Trust in Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre seems to have stalled since this year's election, the survey suggests, with 38 per cent of Canadians saying they trust him in May, down slightly from 40 per cent in January.

The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

Alberta reports 48 new cases of measles, nears 500-case mark since March

48 new cases of measles

Photo: The Canadian Press

An Alberta Health Services sign is pictured outside the Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, Thursday, March 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta has confirmed 48 more cases of measles, bringing the province's total case count to 486 since the beginning of March.

The province says all but two of the new cases of the highly contagious disease are in southern Alberta, the area that has seen about 70 per cent of all cases.

Government data shows that close to 80 per cent of all cases have been reported in children, including 149 cases in those under the age of five.

As of earlier this month, 35 people had been hospitalized.

Measles symptoms include fever, coughing, runny nose, red eyes and a blotchy, red rash that appears three to seven days after the fever starts.

The province is encouraging Albertans to get vaccinated against measles and has launched a new hotline people can call to learn more about getting immunized.

Weekend work a key sticking point between Canada Post, workers

Hung up on weekend work

Photo: The Canadian Press

Canada Post employees talk outside a delivery depot in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Weekend work remains a big obstacle in negotiations between Canada Post and its workers, who have threatened to walk off the job Friday in what would be their second strike in less than six months.

Under the current collective agreement, mail carriers must be paid overtime for shifts on Saturdays and Sundays.

Canada Post is pushing for a contingent of part-time workers to be deployed in response to demand that would include weekends.

Crown corporation spokesman Jon Hamilton says a more dynamic approach would also allow it to shift from a delivery model that revolves around letters to one rooted more firmly in the growing parcels market.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is arguing for purely full-time employment and says its goal remains new contracts and a sustainable postal service.

The union informed management Monday afternoon that employees plan to hit the picket line starting Friday morning at midnight, halting delivery of nearly 8.5 million letters and 1.1 million parcels per weekday.

CRTC hears debate on including a 'cultural element' in new definition of CanCon

What is Canadian content?

Photo: The Canadian Press

A person navigates to the on-line social-media pages of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in Ottawa on Monday, May 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The CRTC is considering whether it should include a "cultural element" in its new definition of Canadian content.

A consumers’ group says having a test that attempts to define who or what is culturally Canadian would be “highly problematic.”

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre says the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission should stick to its current approach, which looks at whether Canadians are employed in key creative positions.

The broadcast regulator has heard from others during its two-week hearing who are in favour of including culture in the modernized definition of CanCon.

The National Film Board has argued that now is the time to include cultural elements in the definition of Canadian content.

It says the lack of a cultural element in the definition could result in harmful long-term consequences and risks erasing "what makes us who we are."

Inflation slows sharply to 1.7% in April as consumer carbon price ends

Inflation slows to 1.7%

Photo: The Canadian Press

The end of the consumer carbon price at the start of April drove inflation down sharply, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. A woman gasses up at a gas station in Mississauga, Ont., Tuesday, February 13, 2024.  

The end of the consumer carbon price at the start of April drove inflation down sharply, Statistics Canada said Tuesday, but there were signs of pressure building at the grocery store.

The annual pace of inflation cooled to 1.7 per cent last month, down from 2.3 per cent in March, the agency said. That’s a little higher than the 1.6 per cent expected by a poll of economists.

But with a Bank of Canada interest rate decision set for early June, market odds flipped in favour of another rate hold from the central bank in response to the inflation data.

Canadians were primarily finding relief at the gas pumps in April.

Statistics Canada said gas prices fell 18.1 per cent year-over-year in April, thanks mostly to the end of the carbon price, but also because global oil prices fell amid declining demand and higher production from OPEC countries. Natural gas prices also fell 14.1 per cent annually in the month.

Excluding energy from the consumer price index, StatCan said inflation would have come in at 2.9 per cent for April – an increase from 2.5 per cent for the same calculation in March.

The only province that didn’t experience a slowdown in inflation last month was Quebec, a province that has its own cap-and-trade system and therefore didn’t benefit from the end of the federal carbon price regime.

But while consumers found it cheaper to gas up in April, pressure was building at the grocery store.

Prices for food bought from the store rose 3.8 per cent last month, StatCan said, accelerating from 3.2 per cent in March.

On an annual basis, prices for fresh vegetables rose 3.7 per cent, the cost of fresh and frozen beef was up 16.2 per cent and prices of coffee and tea rose 13.4 per cent, the agency said.

Grocery store inflation has now outpaced the overall consumer price index for three months in a row.

Canadian travellers also felt the pinch as travel tour prices rose 3.7 per cent monthly in April, reversing course after a decline of eight per cent in March.

The April inflation figures come a little more than two weeks before the Bank of Canada is set to make its next interest rate decision on June 4.

The central bank held its policy rate steady at 2.75 per cent last month, saying then that it needed more time to see how Canada’s trade war with the United States was impacting the economy.

Financial market odds of an interest rate cut in June fell to just under 40 per cent Tuesday morning, compared with roughly 64 per cent at the end of last week, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

While the headline inflation figures showed signs of easing in April, the Bank of Canada's preferred measures of core inflation, which strip out influences like the end of the carbon carbon price, accelerated to top three per cent in the month.

CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham said in a note to clients Tuesday that the central bank will be watching that trend carefully, alongside indications that the tariff dispute was starting to bite Canada's labour market.

StatCan reported earlier this month that the national unemployment rate rose to 6.9 per cent in April as the trade-sensitive manufacturing sector took a hit.

"Signs of renewed weakening in the economy on one hand, as shown by the latest employment data, but stronger core inflation on the other makes for a tough decision for the Bank of Canada at its early June meeting," Grantham said.

TD Bank senior economist Andrew Hencic said in a note that signs of a resurgence in core inflation might mean that the tariff hit could be showing up sooner than anticipated in the price data.

Like Grantham, Hencic said the April inflation report "complicates" the Bank of Canada's decision making.

The central bank typically raises its policy rate to tamp down price pressures and lowers it to encourage economic growth; policymakers have made clear they can't effectively lean against both a slowing economy and a resurgence in inflation at the same time in a trade war.

Hencic said TD sees two additional interest rate cuts from the Bank of Canada this year.

Inflation in Canadian cities

Canada's annual inflation rate was 1.7 per cent in April, Statistics Canada says. The agency also released rates for major cities, but cautioned that figures may have fluctuated widely because they are based on small statistical samples (previous month in brackets):

• St. John's, N.L.: 0.2 per cent (0.8)
• Charlottetown-Summerside: 0.8 per cent (1.9)
• Halifax: 1.7 per cent (2.5)
• Saint John, N.B.: 0.2 per cent (1.8)
• Quebec City: 2.4 per cent (2.1)
• Montreal: 2.5 per cent (2.1)
• Ottawa: 2.0 per cent (2.7)
• Toronto: 1.7 per cent (2.2)
• Thunder Bay, Ont.: 1.5 per cent (2.2)
• Winnipeg: 2.1 per cent (3.1)
• Regina: 2.1 per cent (2.5)
• Saskatoon: 2.1 per cent (2.8)
• Edmonton: 1.5 per cent (2.9)
• Calgary: 1.6 per cent (3.0)
• Vancouver: 2.2 per cent (2.4)
• Victoria: 1.9 per cent (2.5)
• Whitehorse: 3.6 per cent (3.5)
• Yellowknife: 2.7 per cent (2.3)
• Iqaluit: 1.0 per cent (0.8)

Top finance officials from G7 countries gather in Banff for three-day summit

G7 finance officials in Banff

Photo: The Canadian Press

Minister of Finance and National Revenue Francois-Philippe Champagne arrives for a meeting of the federal cabinet in West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.  

High-ranking officials from the world's top economies are in Banff, Alta., this week for a three-day summit that will cover topics including the global economy, the war in Ukraine and artificial intelligence.

The meeting comes during a period of heightened instability as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his tariff-driven effort to bring industry to American soil, leading many countries to reconsider their trade relationships with the United States and other trading partners.

The gathering will also be a precursor to the meetings that will happen in Kananaskis, Alta., when North American, European and Japanese leaders gather for the G7 Leaders' Summit from June 15 to 17.

Kananaskis last hosted the meeting in 2002.

Rookie Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem will lead the meetings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

A spokesperson for Champagne says the Finance Department is working closely with the Prime Minister's Office on priorities for the meetings and the leaders' summit. The ministry did not provide details on specific agreements it's looking to reach.

Despite ongoing tension around tariffs, the spokesperson said, the meeting will be an opportunity for the countries to work together.

The White House did not confirm who would be travelling to Banff for the meetings. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have been the main architects behind Trump's economic strategy, and at least one will likely attend.

Jerome Powell, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has been a regular at the meetings since he was nominated to lead the U.S. central bank in 2018. Trump has badgered Powell in recent months for not cutting interest rates and has threatened to fire him.

Support for Ukraine has been a central focus in recent years.

In Italy last year, leaders committed to keeping Russian assets frozen and redirecting them to provide Ukraine with financial support. Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko will be at the meetings, even though the country is not a member of the G7.

Much has changed in the past year, which saw Trump's re-election to the most powerful office in the world.

Since his January inauguration, the U.S. president has threatened to withhold funding from Ukraine and forced it to sign a critical minerals agreement in exchange for continued support against Russia's aggression.

Direct peace talks between Ukraine and Russia broke down after two hours last week. The countries each released 1,000 prisoners of war before the meetings concluded.

The G7 countries will also discuss artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and the global economy in their meetings this week.

The heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development are also travelling to Banff.

The G7 comprises Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the European Union.