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Toronto, Peel and North Bay exit Ontario's emergency coronavirus stay at home order – CP24 Toronto's Breaking News

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All non-essential retail stores in Toronto and Peel Region are opening their doors to customers for the first time in months as the two COVID-19 hot spots move to the grey zone of the province’s tiered reopening framework.

With the exception of stores that offer essential goods, customers have been barred from entering shops in both regions since Nov. 23, purchasing items instead through curbside pickup or delivery.

Starting today, those stores can welcome customers inside once again but must only operate at 25 per cent of their regular indoor capacity.

Groceries stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores are permitted to operate at 50 per cent capacity in the grey zone.

The Ford government has also lifted stay-at-home orders in both Toronto and Peel Region and outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people are now permitted.

Mayor John Tory said the city is constantly assessing the situation to see how the virus is spreading in the community.

“We are watching it every day with a view to make sure we open further as soon as we possibly can with an eye always on making sure we avoid a further lockdown later,” Tory told CP24 on Monday.

Other regions of the GTA are in the red zone of the framework, which allows restaurants to reopen indoor dining with up to 10 patrons inside at one time. In the red zone, many other businesses, including gyms, hair salons, and other personal care services, are allowed to reopen.

“The case count numbers did pop up again in Ontario and we’ll see how they are today and tomorrow because we are watching this very carefully,” Tory said.

Ontario saw nearly 1,300 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and more than 1,600 on Monday, the highest daily counts recorded in weeks.

Tory said public health officials are still concerned about how variants of concern are spreading throughout the region.

“Don’t forget a lot of the region did open up into the so-called red zone all around Toronto and many Torontonians we know from the phone data we’re going shopping in those areas so you sort of have to see did that cause any increase in the virus or the variants of concern.”

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who initially advocated for her municipality to enter the red zone this week, says the trends are encouraging in her city.

“We are very close to the red zone here in Mississauga. Our numbers are down, our cases are declining… I’m watching it very closely this week. I see that our numbers have been declining further so my fingers are crossed. I’m very hopeful this week that they will look at Mississauga and perhaps allow us to reopen,” she told CP24 on Monday.

“We are ready. It’s spring. Everybody feels like we are ready for that safe reopening.”

Some Toronto business owners have expressed frustration that more restrictions have been eased in neighbouring regions in the GTA.

Thanh Tran, owner of salon Roots & Tips near Yonge and Dundas streets, says it remains unclear how personal care businesses exactly how many cases of COVID-19 were transmitted through visits to personal care services.

“I think it is a little unfair… We’ve taken every precaution to make sure everybody is safe, taking down contacts,” she told CP24 on Monday.

“We can limit the amount of people we interact with where as big stores, you don’t know… nobody really keeps to social distancing.”

Toronto still in ‘precarious’ situation, de Villa says

Toronto’s medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, said Monday that she would like to see the city’s cases per 100,000 and the city’s reproductive rate decline before easing restrictions further.

Other factors to consider, she said, are what proportion of cases involve a variant of concern and how quickly vaccines can roll out to the community.

“These are the many indicators that we need to be looking at in order to assure ourselves that we are in a better place in order to reopen more fulsomely and to really start to restore life more to something like we knew before COVID-19 was around,” she said.

“The idea is to make sure that as we start to emerge, and as hope becomes more of a possibility… that we will be able to see more activity return to our city.”

De Villa said the city is still in a “very precarious situation” but there is the “hope of vaccines on the horizon.”

“My plea to the people of Toronto is to continue to be vigilant around practicing self-protection measures. They remain one of our strongest defences against the spread of COVID-19 and the negative impact that it has on us,” she said.

“Beyond that, as vaccine becomes more available, and as we are able to get more vaccine into arms, taking these two things together… this is what will see us through and towards the place where we all want to be, which is with COVID-19 in the rear view mirror.”

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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