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OTTAWA – Two years after the failed launch of a lending program, Canada Post looks to be making another foray into banking services.

Based on a document posted to the Canadian Union Of Postal Workers website, the postal service will soon be launching a chequing and savings account in partnership with Koho Financial Inc.

The document, which was online for a brief time before being taken down, says Canada Post will start testing the MyMoney account this month with a national launch next year.

It says accounts will have features such as cash back, high interest and options to build or improve credit and will use a prepaid, reloadable Mastercard.

The apparent plans come after Canada Post launched a lending program with TD Bank Group in late 2022, only to shut it down weeks later because of what it said were processing issues.

Canada Post did not respond to a request to confirm the plans.

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

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TORONTO – Losses in the energy and base metal sectors led Canada’s main stock index lower in late-morning trading on Friday, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 138.12 points at 24,707.81.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 310.62 points at 44,039.96. The S&P 500 index was up 22.25 points at 5,995.35, while the Nasdaq composite was down 16.30 points at 19,253.16.

The Canadian dollar traded for 71.91 cents US compared with 72.12 cents US on Thursday.

The December crude oil contract was down US$2.08 at US$70.28 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was up two cents at US$2.72 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$11.70 at US$2,694.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was down 12 cents at US$4.32 a pound.

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

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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HALIFAX – A new study says persistent organic pollutants in waters off Canada’s East Coast are “dangerously high” for killer whales and put them at an elevated risk for serious immune-system and reproductive problems.

The study led by McGill University scientists, which looked at levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and pesticides in skin samples collected from six species of whales and dolphins, found that toxin levels in killer whales are double the threshold that scientists believe causes reproductive failure.

The samples collected south of Newfoundland between 2015 and 2022 showed that humpback, minke and fin whales, as well as dolphins, had lower levels of persistent pollutants than did killer whales.

Lead researcher Anaïs Remili says toxins attach themselves to fatty issue, such as the blubber of whales and dolphins.

“These molecules … will stick to fat and aquatic organisms that have a lot of fat in them,” she said in an interview Thursday, adding that chemicals transfer from animal to animal as they move throughout the food chain. Killer whales are particularly vulnerable to heightened toxin levels because they are apex predators.

Increased toxins are just one of several environmental threats killer whales face, including net entanglements, vessel strikes and difficulty finding food because of changing ocean temperatures. Remili said its difficult to come up with a hierarchy of the different threats for the killer whale specifically, adding that many other whale species face similar challenges.

Though there is no data available on toxin levels in killer whales, Remili said there is still some hope contaminants in the species can decrease over time. Her study cites data monitoring of toxin levels in beluga whales over several decades, which indicated a downward trend in toxin concentration. That study, she said, gives her some optimism for the future of killer whales.

“We hypothesized in the study that because (toxin levels) have been going down in all these cetacean species, it has probably gone down (in killer whales) … but there is hope these contaminants will decrease with further efforts,” Remili said.

Though their use has long been banned in Canada, the chemicals linger in both the environment and living tissue, and in aquatic ecosystems where carnivorous marine species are more likely to be exposed.

Remili cited the important of strong regulations to prevent more toxins from entering the water.

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

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