Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Montreal Thursday, where he met with Premier François Legault as he continued his campaign-style tour of Quebec.
The pair announced a joint investment of up to $693 million help relaunch the aerospace industry which is among the top three leaders in the world representing some 60,000 direct jobs across the country.
The federal government is expected to pitch in $440 million with Quebec making up the difference.
“This financing will allow Bell Textron Canada, CAE and Pratt & Whitney Canada to continue to innovate and discover new markets,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau touted the province’s know-how when it comes to aerospace.
He harkened back to humble beginnings 115 years ago when Percival Reed made Quebec’s first plane in a garage on Ste-Catherine’s Street.
“Things have changed since then but not the desire to innovate,” Trudeau said, adding the province is one of the rare places in the world able to not only conceive and build a planes from A to Z, on top of flying and certifying them.
2:08 Quebec aerospace industry gets major financial boost
Quebec aerospace industry gets major financial boost
Trudeau also lauded the sector’s innovation when it comes to green technology.
“The world’s greenest model of airplane is the Airbus A220 — a Quebec plane,” he said, “but we have to continue to solidify our place as world leader in aerospace.”
The joint investment is expected to allow for the creation and maintenance of 12,000 “good paying jobs” and 6,200 internships for students.
It will also secure “the industry’s long-term future in Canada,” Trudeau said, “by developing green aviation projects and more clean technologies. Some of these technologies will take decades to develop so there is absolutely no time to waste.”
Legault specified it was 1,000 new jobs that would be created with annual salaries over $80,000.
“It’s excellent news,” he said
Legault pointed to the importance of encouraging students to study in the field because the creation of high-paying jobs isn’t enough in and of itself if you don’t have the qualified workers to fill those positions.
The prime minister acknowledged the aerospace sector was in need of a boost.
It was hard-hit by the pandemic as air travel ground to a halt as countries closed their borders to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The prime minister noted that the industry isn’t only comprised of big players, but smaller businesses too and announced the launch of the aerospace regional recovery initiative to help support their recovery.
“Whether it’s projects to lower your carbon footprint or support for AI solutions to better manage your inventory, we’re here to help your business innovate,” Trudeau said, adding the program was ready to receive applications as of Thursday.
The government will be investing an additional $250 million over three years countrywide in the project, with $100 million slated for Quebec.
Thursday’s announcement was well received with various stakeholders chiming in.
“We can only approve such an initiative,” said Renaud Gagné, the head of Unifor Quebec, in a written statement.
The union said the help was a long time coming with the union — which represents 3,000 members at Pratt & Whitney and CAE — making repeated calls to both levels of government for additional support.
While Gagné said the union was still examining the details of the deal he stressed the importance of not only supporting the industry but of making sure jobs stay in the province.
The Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec, an association of manufacturers, also welcomed the news.
“MEQ is delighted with the large participation of the manufacturing sector in this announcement, which will promote a green recovery, which will strengthen the Canadian aerospace sector and which will have a positive impact on several Quebec companies,” said MEQ CEO Véronique Proulx.
Like the premier, she noted the success of such an endeavour rests on having the necessary skilled labour to fill the new positions.
“Success will therefore depend on increasing the immigration thresholds, improving vocational training programs and improving the temporary foreign worker program,” she said.
The prime minister began his day by visiting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Montreal’s Saint-Michel neighbourhood, in a bid to encourage more people to get vaccinated.
Thursday’s visit comes on the heels of a $25-million investment for the expansion of General Electric’s LM Wind Power plant in Gaspé that produces rotor blades for windmills.
The $170-million project is expected to create 200 new jobs and maintain 380 existing jobs.
Trudeau also announced support for upgrades to the wharf at the Port of Cap-aux-Meules in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine and said Ottawa is withdrawing plans to transfer the port to a lower level of government.
Trudeau once again quelled rumours of an upcoming federal election, defending himself against what many perceive as campaigning.
“In an election campaign, you make promises about what you plan to do if you are elected,” he said. “This list of projects and announcements is the job of a good government.”
1:46 Canada looking at vaccine ‘passports’ for international travel, up to provinces for domestic aspects
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.
