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Canada now has enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to fully vaccinate all eligible citizens: PM – CTV News

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OTTAWA —
Canada currently has enough doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country to fully vaccinate every eligible person over the age of 12, with more than 66 million doses received as of Tuesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marked the vaccine milestone at a Moncton, N.B. vaccination clinic.

“Back in the winter I made a promise that we would have enough vaccines for all eligible Canadians by the end of September. Not only have we kept that promise, we’ve done it two months ahead of schedule,” Trudeau said.

In June, Trudeau promised that by the end of this month, Canada would have received “over 68 million” doses of COVID-19 vaccines, prompting an acceleration to his initial plans for a “one-dose summer” and “two-dose fall.”

Procurement Minister Anita Anand echoed the announcement later on Tuesday, confirming that by the end of the week, Canada will have received 68 million shots, with millions more coming in the next two months.

“We have procured in total 51 million doses of Pfizer, 44 million doses of Moderna, and we will receive 95 million doses of both of those vaccine manufacturers prior to the end of September,” said Anand.

Reflecting on the rollout, Anand—who led the government’s deal-making with companies to secure doses— said the federal strategy was “one of negotiation, and negotiation, and negotiation.”

As of Tuesday morning, according to CTV News’ vaccine tracker, 80 per cent of the eligible population has received a first dose, while just over 63 per cent of those eligible are fully vaccinated. After trailing behind for months, Canada now has a larger percentage of its population fully vaccinated than any other G7 country. 

‘NO MORE EXCUSES’

While more than 26 million of the eligible 33 million Canadians have rolled up their sleeves, the push is now on to try to reach the outstanding people who are vaccine hesitant or have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine for other reasons.

Trudeau sought to encourage those still on the fence, reminding people that the vaccines have been authorized as safe and effective by Health Canada, that what the country is seeing is that “overwhelming majority” of new cases are in people who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, and the consequences of getting COVID-19 can be serious.

“With enough doses for everyone, there’s no more excuses to not get your shot,” Trudeau said, encouraging those who have held off to think about their loved ones, the children in their lives, and the health care workers who have been on the front lines for a year and half.

“It’s about stepping up to do the right thing, as Canadians have been doing all throughout this pandemic,” he said, noting that the unvaccinated will be “missing out” on taking part in going forward, citing international travel as an example.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu also spoke about the challenge those who are unwilling to get vaccinated are posing to the country’s overall ability to get through and out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My worry as a Canadian health minister is that if we head into the fall and we have too many people that are unvaccinated, it gives the virus an opportunity to attack the people we love… It puts the risk of our recovery—it makes the risk so much more elevated,” she said.

ROLLOUT NOT WITHOUT ISSUES

While Canada’s vaccine rollout has been boosted by large deliveries of doses in recent months — making it possible to rapidly administer second doses — the national mass immunization campaign has not been without its issues.

Since the first COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Canada on December 14, 2020, the rollout has been marked by wildly different challenges including a shortage of doses in some places and seemingly a surplus in others; some Canadians received their two shots just four weeks apart, while others waited four months.

The evolving immunization strategy prompted by supply issues and adverse reaction concerns has resulted in some folks receiving mixed-dose regimes. And, anyone hoping for a single-shot vaccine had their hopes dashed when the only delivery of Johnson & Johnson doses was rejected due to quality control issues. There was also the logistical challenges—from procuring enough needles and cold-storage freezers to setting up administration sites in sometimes unorthodox locations—taken on by each province and territory with help from a military-led federal operations centre within the Public Health Agency of Canada.

On Tuesday, Anand and Hajdu joined representatives from the vaccine companies as well as FedEx Canada and Innomar Strategies, who were contracted by the federal government to help with the delivery and distribution of vaccines at an event marking the vaccine milestone.

“Throughout this pandemic we have rightly thanked our frontline health care workers… Today I would like to thank with immense gratitude, another set of Canadians who have stepped up, and that’s all of you here today… Canadians in the back rooms, who are making sure that we are able to get vaccines into this country,” Anand said, recalling the countless calls, emails, and texts they exchanged over the course of the procurement effort.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Now, the conversation is turning to how long the vaccines will provide protection, and whether evolving variants may prompt booster doses, meaning that while the initial vaccine rollout may be tapering off, COVID-19 and ways to keep future waves at bay will be an ongoing focus for governments and public health officials.

As well, studies are ongoing into the possibility of expanding COVID-19 vaccine access to children under the age of 12, specifically in the ages five to 11 demographic. Pfizer is expecting some early results by the fall, but won’t likely have its work completed to submit to Health Canada for authorization until later in the year.

Anand said that regardless of whether additional doses would be needed or when younger children may be cleared to be immunized against the novel coronavirus, Canada will have the supply.

“We have enough supply for all eligible Canadians and the remainder for additional needs that our country has including additional age groups, or boosters, if the science deems that that is appropriate,” she said.

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Maple Leaf Foods earns $17.7M in Q3, sales rise as it works to spin off pork business

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Maple Leaf Foods Inc. continued to navigate weaker consumer demand in the third quarter as it looked ahead to the spinoff of its pork business in 2025.

“This environment has a particularly significant impact on a premium portfolio like ours and I want you to know that we are not sitting still waiting for the macro environment to recover on its own,” said CEO Curtis Frank on a call with analysts.

Frank said the company is working to adapt its strategies to consumer demand. As inflation has stabilized and interest rates decline, he said pressure on consumers is expected to ease.

Maple Leaf reported a third-quarter profit of $17.7 million compared with a loss of $4.3 million in the same quarter last year.

The company says the profit amounted to 14 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of four cents per share a year earlier. Sales for the quarter totalled $1.26 billion, up from $1.24 billion a year ago.

“At a strategic level … we’re certainly seeing the transitory impacts of an inflation-stressed consumer environment play through our business,” Frank said.

“We are seeing more trade-down than we would like. And we are making more investments to grow our volume and protect our market share than we would like in the moment. But again, we believe that those impacts will prove to be transitory as they have been over the course of history.”

Financial results are improving in the segment as feed costs have stabilized, said Dennis Organ, president, pork complex.

Maple Leaf, which is working to spin off its pork business into a new, publicly traded company to be called Canada Packers Inc. and led by Organ, also said it has identified a way to implement the plan through a tax-free “butterfly reorganization.”

Frank said Wednesday that the new structure will see Maple Leaf retain slightly lower ownership than previously intended.

The company said it continues to expect to complete the transaction next year. However, the spinoff under the new structure is subject to an advance tax ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency and will take longer than first anticipated.

Maple Leaf announced the spinoff in July with a plan to become a more focused consumer packaged goods company, including its Maple Leaf and Schneiders brands.

“The prospect of executing the transaction as a tax-free spin-off is a positive development as we continue to advance our strategy to unlock value and unleash the potential of these two unique and distinct businesses,” Frank said in the news release.

He also said that Maple Leaf is set on delivering profitability for its plant protein business in mid-2025.

“This includes the recent completion of a procurement project aimed at leveraging our purchasing scale,” he said.

On an adjusted basis, Maple Leaf says it earned 18 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 13 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

The results were largely in line with expectations, said RBC analyst Irene Nattel in a note.

Maple Leaf shares were down 4.5 per cent in midday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange at $21.49.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:MFI)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Loblaw ramps up efforts to capture more customers as it reports profit up in Q3

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Loblaw had a busy third quarter as it ramped up efforts to capture more deal-seeking shoppers, pharmacy customers and immigrant communities, while growing its store footprint and planning for even more expansion in 2025.

President and chief executive officer Per Bank acknowledged the grocer has “done a lot” during his first year as chief executive.

“Now we’re going to perfect what we have done,” he said on an earnings conference call with analysts.

“We have a lot on our plate, and we’re going to perfect it.”

The company’s profit for the quarter rose year-over-year to $777 million or $2.53 per diluted share, up from $621 million or $1.95, boosted by the reversal of a charge at its President’s Choice Bank after a Federal Court of Appeal decision.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $18.54 billion, up from $18.27 billion a year earlier.

Amid the ongoing shift to discount stores by cash-strapped shoppers, Bank said No Frills and Maxi continued to outperform full-service stores.

Loblaw said it opened 25 new No Frills and Maxi stores during the quarter.

Six of these stores were the new small-format No Frills stores, said chief financial officer Richard Dufresne on the call.

“While it’s still early days, we are pleased with customer reactions and overall performance,” he said.

The company also launched a pilot program during the quarter trialling an ultra-discount No Name store format meant to offer savings beyond even its ubiquitous No Frills banner, with two stores opening during the third quarter and another recently opened.

“If it works, we will (add more). If not, we will pivot, take the learnings and apply them to our discount program,” Bank said.

Loblaw recently opened new T&T stores in Ontario and Quebec, and is beginning the banner’s expansion into the U.S. next month.

With Canada’s first-generation immigrant population continuing to grow, the company is also introducing new multicultural products, including offering more private label T&T products at the company’s other stores, said Bank.

Despite the Canadian government’s decision to slow immigration, Dufresne said there’s still growth ahead.

“While it may slow a bit, we still believe that it’s going to grow. And that’s a tailwind that is very positive for grocery players like us,” he said.

The company is also trying to boost food sales at Shoppers Drug Mart, said Bank. The shift toward discount has had a slight impact on food sales there, he said, so Loblaw is responding by lowering prices on several hundred products to encourage more people to shop for food at the pharmacy banner.

Loblaw is continuing its growth into the fourth quarter, with plans to add another 20 new Maxi and No Frills stores, mainly new builds, said Dufresne.

“For the full year 2024, we expect to have opened 50 new stores and converted an additional 42 stores,” he said.

Bank said the company plans to open even more new stores than in 2024 and is opening a new distribution centre in the first quarter.

He acknowledged that the company’s focus on opening more stores will put some pressure on its earnings in the short term.

“I think it’s important to say that we are planning for the long term, not the short term,” he said.

Part of that longer-term strategy is the company’s decision to no longer sell gaming consoles, games and certain electronics like laptops, computers and TVs. Dufresne said those products don’t drive shoppers’ baskets and have an “extremely low margin.”

“More than 80 per cent of the transactions that are on electronics, customers come in and just buy that item and leave. So it’s not good for our business,” he said. “That’s why we’re deciding to exit it.”

The decision to exit electronics, as well as the company’s move to eliminate multi-buy promotions in its discount stores, affect sales in the short term, Dufresne acknowledged.

“Our focus is on adding square footage. So if we have the right business model and that works and resonates with customers, if we just replicate it with new stores, long term, we win. So that’s how we’re thinking about this,” said Dufresne.

The company said that based on the year-to-date investments in its store network and distribution centres, it now expects to invest a net amount of $1.9 billion compared with earlier expectations for $1.8 billion.

Same-store sales at Loblaw’s food stores were up 0.5 per cent,compared with 4.5 per cent last year. After excluding the unfavourable impact of the timing of Thanksgiving, which fell in a different quarter this year, the company said food same-store sales were up about 1.3 per cent.

Drug retail same-store sales were up 2.9 per cent as pharmacy and health-care services same-store sales rose 6.3 per cent, but front store same-store sales fell 0.5 per cent.

In its outlook, the company raised its guidance for full-year adjusted net earnings per common share growth to low double-digits compared with earlier expectations for high single-digits.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:L)



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Suncor to return all excess cash to shareholders after hitting debt target early

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Efforts to streamline operations have helped Suncor Energy Inc. hit its debt target, triggering a commitment to pay out 100 per cent of excess funds to shareholders.

The oil and gas giant has been working to make efficiency improvements across its sprawling network as it shifts focus to incremental gains over pricey expansion projects.

The efforts yielded upstream production of 829,000 barrels per day to mark its best third quarter ever, its highest ever refining throughput of 488,000 barrels per day and highest ever refined sales at 612,000 barrels per day.

“This is now back to back to back quarterly records,” said chief executive Rich Kruger on an earnings call Wednesday.

Suncor’s efforts to ease bottlenecks and cost improvements include everything from new maintenance techniques to its shift to bigger, autonomous trucks. They include spending $1 million to increase its base plant capacity to 100,000 barrels a day from 65,000, and spending $500,000 to increase Firebag production by between 6,000 and 10,000 barrels a day, with both creating upwards of $100 million of additional free funds flow per year, said Kruger.

The efforts also include everything down to the material in the totes it uses to receive additives in, said Dave Oldreive, executive vice-president of downstream.

“It sounds like a small thing. It’s worth $50,000 a year, not a big deal in the big scheme of things, but you add those up, we get 15,000 people in this company doing that, we’re going to continue to drive improvements.”

The higher production helped it earn $2.02 billion in its third quarter, up from $1.54 billion a year earlier.

It also helped Suncor reduce its debt by more than $1.4 billion in the quarter to achieve its net debt target of $8 billion ahead of many external forecasts, the company said. Hitting that triggered its commitment to pay out 100 per cent of excess funds to shareholders, up from 50 per cent at the start of the year.

Suncor returned $1.5 billion to shareholders in the quarter through share buybacks and dividends, while it boosted its dividend by five per cent to 57 cents per share.

The company is also tracking above the high end of its guidance on several measures so far in the fourth quarter, said Kruger, while the challenge next year will be to keep the improvements coming.

“What will be very key for us in 2025 too is holding the gains of 2024. We’ve made a lot of progress on cost, discipline, asset reliability and things. We’re trying to be sure whether we institutionalize those and don’t slip back at all.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SU)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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