As of midnight, Ontario entered a month-long provincewide shutdown that will see restaurants shuttered and gatherings further restricted.
Premier Doug Ford announced that he would be “pulling the emergency break” as a result of rising COVID-19 cases and intensive care admissions.
“Friends, right now we’re into a third wave of COVID-19,” Ford told reporters on Friday. “The variants of concern are spreading rapidly. This is a new pandemic. We’re now fighting a new enemy.”
The premier used the term “shutdown” to describe the new restrictions, but what does that mean?
How is the shutdown different from the restrictions already in place under the provincial COVID-19 framework?
The shutdown rules are quite similar to the older version of the grey zone, the strictest tier in the province’s COVID-19 framework.
Last month, the province made changes to the grey zone rules, allowing patios to open, outdoor fitness to resume and personal care services to begin operation.
Under the new shutdown, all of those services are shuttered yet again. The number of people allowed to gather outdoors has also decreased from 10 to five.
The only other difference is that the shutdown is provincewide and will impact all 34 of Ontario’s public health units.
A full list of what you can and cannot do can be found here.
How long will it last?
The government has said that the shutdown will last at least one month, or until May 3.
Are schools open?
Schools and child-care centres are expected to stay open throughout the four-week shutdown. . Education Minister Stephen Lecce said that the provincial government is fully committed to keeping schools open and that students will return to “elevated” infection prevention and control measures.
Day camps, however, will be closed.
Is the April break still happening?
The postponed March Break, now scheduled for the week of April 12, is expected to go ahead as planned.
Can I go to a restaurant?
In-person dining (indoor and outdoor) is prohibited. Restaurants are allowed to provide takeout and delivery only.
Can I get a haircut?
No. All personal care services are prohibited during the shutdown.
Can I go to the store?
Retail stores are allowed to operate with strict capacity limits. Essential stores such as supermarkets, pharmacies and other stores that primarily sell food can open at 50 per cent capacity, while all other retailers, including big box stores, are restricted at 25 per cent capacity.
While standing in line to enter a store, customers must maintain two meters distance between one another.
Are gyms open?
No. Gyms, as well as outdoor fitness classes, are closed during the shutdown.
Is there a stay-at-home order?
The province opted not to issue a stay-at-home order during the shutdown. However, residents are encouraged not to leave their home except for essential reasons, inlcuding trips for buying food, medication, medical appointments, supporting vulnerable individuals and exercising outdoors with members of their household.
Can I get together with my family?
It is illegal to gather indoors with anyone you do not live with. Residents may get together with up to five people outdoors, but a two-metre distance must be maintained.
Can I host a wedding or hold a funeral?
Indoor ceremonies or religious services are capped at 15 per cent capacity. There is no cap on outdoor religious services, but all participants must be able to stay two metres apart from one another.
Can I travel in the province?
Residents are being asked not to travel outside of their region or province unless absolutely necessary.
Why is this happening?
The shutdown was implemented as a result of rising COVID-19 variant cases and a record-breaking number of admissions to the intensive care unit as a result of the disease. New modelling data released on Thursday suggests that even with further restrictions, including a stay-at-home order, COVID-19 admissions to intensive care units could reach 800 by the end of the month.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
