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Hockey Canada: Canadian Tire cuts ties as group ‘continues to resist’ change – Global News

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Hockey Canada is losing more major sponsorships — at least one apparently permanently — ahead of the 2022-23 season due to continued concerns from companies about the federation’s handling of sexual assault allegations.

The flight of sponsors comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday warned that Hockey Canada’s refusal to take the matter seriously could spur efforts to “get rid” of the organization.

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Canadian Tire confirmed in a Thursday statement to Global News that it had made the decision to “end its partnership with Hockey Canada.”

“In our view, Hockey Canada continues to resist meaningful change and we can no longer confidently move forward together,” a statement from the company read.

“CTC is proud of our commitment to sport and will continue to invest in our beloved national game by re-directing support to hockey-related organizations that better align with our values.”

In the last 24 hours, Telus, Tim Hortons and Scotiabank have also all confirmed they will not support men’s hockey programs in the upcoming season.

“We are deeply disheartened by the lack of action and commitment from Hockey Canada to drive necessary cultural change,” a spokesperson for Telus wrote in the latest statement.

“TELUS will not be sponsoring Hockey Canada’s men’s hockey programs for the 2022-23 season, including the upcoming World Juniors tournament. We remain passionate fans and supporters of the sport of hockey and stand committed to enabling systemic change to make hockey safe for all.”

Read more:

Tim Hortons, Scotiabank cut Hockey Canada sponsorships for 2022-23 men’s programs

As the backlash continues to grow, Prime Minister Trudeau slammed Hockey Canada leadership as he walked into a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“Hockey Canada has completely lost the confidence of Canadians,” he said.

“The longer it takes (Hockey Canada) to realize that, the more difficult it’s going to be, not just for them, which is fine, but for kids in hockey, for juniors, for people who rely on that organization to play the sport they love and to have winter activities this winter.”

Trudeau added that it is “inconceivable” that Hockey Canada leadership continues to “dig in.”

“It’s not like there’s something extraordinarily special about the people at Hockey Canada that means they are the only people in the country that can run an organization like this. There’s lots of people who could run it,” he said.

“There needs to be wholesale change … They need to realize that if we have to create an organization, get rid of Hockey Canada and create an organization called Canada Hockey instead, people will look at doing that. There is a lack of understanding that they’ve lost the confidence of Canadians, and the sooner they get to that, the better it’ll be for everyone.”


Click to play video: 'MPs grill Hockey Canada execs over handling of sex abuse claims'



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MPs grill Hockey Canada execs over handling of sex abuse claims


MPs grill Hockey Canada execs over handling of sex abuse claims

Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge echoed Trudeau’s call for widespread change at Hockey Canada as she left a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“I think that (Hockey Canada) needs new leaders, new directors and new experts to renew this organization,” she said.

“It needs to be rebuilt.”

As sponsors continue to drop their support for Hockey Canada, the hockey-playing families can find themselves caught in the middle, according to Theresa Bailey, the founder of the Canadian Hockey Moms website.

“It makes me sad because Hockey Canada is not just the management and board of directors, it’s everyone who plays within that bubble,” she said.

“So all of us are feeling uncomfortable about something that we’re associated with, but that we didn’t make decisions related to and don’t support.”

But Bailey said she understands why sponsors are choosing to pull away from Hockey Canada.

“They have a social responsibility, and I think that they are paying attention to the outrage of families and fans,” she explained.

“They have a responsibility to act.”

The decision from multiple sponsors to pull their support comes after members of Parliament repeatedly pressed Hockey Canada officials for answers during a heated meeting on Tuesday about the organization’s handling of sexual assault.

Read more:

Hockey Canada failing to grasp ‘serious’ situation amid outcry: Trudeau

The development also follows a Globe and Mail report, published on Monday, that revealed Hockey Canada put player registration fees towards a second fund “for matters including but not limited to sexual abuse,” according to documents obtained by the newspaper.

News of the first fund, Hockey Canada’s National Equity Fund, first broke over the summer. The use of the fund to cover sexual assault and abuse settlements sparked an outcry from parents, politicians and sponsors across the country.

During a committee meeting in July, executives told MPs that the fund — which was fuelled in part by children’s registration fees — had paid out $7.6 million in nine settlements related to sexual assault and sexual abuse claims since 1989.

CFO Brian Cairo told MPs during a July committee meeting that $6.8 million of that total was related to Graham James, a former Canadian junior ice hockey coach who pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault in 1997. Uninsured settled claims made up another $1.3 million of the payouts, $1 million of which resulted from four incidents from a single perpetrator.

Hockey Canada said in July it would no longer use this fund for sexual abuse claims.

— With files from Global News’ Mike Armstrong

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Alberta's population surges by record-setting 202,000 people: Here's where they all came from – CBC.ca

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Alberta smashed population-growth records in the past year, mainly due to people moving to the province from across Canada and around the world.

The province’s population surged to just over 4.8 million as of Jan. 1, according to new estimates released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.

That’s an increase of 202,324 residents compared with a year earlier, which marks — by far — the largest annual increase on record.

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Alberta also broke a national record in 2023 for interprovincial migration, with a net gain of 55,107 people.

“This was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data became available in 1972,” Statistics Canada said in a release.


Most of the interprovincial migrants came from Ontario and British Columbia.

Statistics Canada estimates that 38,236 Ontarians moved to Alberta last year, versus 14,860 Albertans who moved to Ontario, for a net gain of 23,376 people.

Similarly, an estimated 37,650 British Columbians moved to Alberta, compared to 22,400 Albertans who moved to B.C., for a net gain of 15,250.


All told, interprovincial migration accounted for 27 per cent of Alberta’s population growth over the past year.

That put it just ahead of permanent immigration, which accounted for 26 per cent, and well ahead of natural population increase (more births than deaths), which accounted for eight per cent.

The largest component, however, was temporary international migration.

Non-permanent residents from other countries accounted for 39 per cent of the province’s population growth in the past year, reflecting a national trend.


Canada’s population reached 40,769,890 on Jan. 1, according to Statistics Canada estimates, which is up 3.2 per cent from a year ago.

“Most of Canada’s 3.2-per-cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration in 2023,” Statistics Canada noted.

“Without temporary immigration, that is, relying solely on permanent immigration and natural increase (births minus deaths), Canada’s population growth would have been almost three times less (1.2 per cent).”

Alberta’s population, meanwhile, grew by 4.4 per cent year-over-year.

Alberta now represents 11.8 per cent of the country’s population, its largest proportion on record. 

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Why Canada's record population growth is helping – and hurting – the economy – CTV News

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Canada has recorded the fastest population growth in 66 years, increasing by 1.3 million people, or 3.2 per cent, in 2023, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

The country has not seen such growth since 1957, when the spike was attributed to the baby boom and an influx of immigrants fleeing Hungary.

The vast majority of Canada’s growth last year was due to immigration, with temporary residents — which includes foreign workers and international students — making up the largest proportion of newcomers.

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“We need people coming to Canada to help with our economy,” says Matti Siemiatycki, a professor of planning at the University of Toronto. “There are many jobs and professions where there are vacancies, and that is having an impact, whether in the healthcare sector or trades and construction sector.”

Siemiatycki adds immigrants also bring “ingenuity… resources… and culture” to Canada.

Newcomers are relied on to help keep pace with Canada’s aging population and declining fertility rates, but the influx also presents a challenge for a country struggling to build the homes and infrastructure needed for immigrants.

“It’s an incredibly large shock for the economic system to absorb because of just the sheer number of people coming into the country in a short period of time,” says Robert Kavcic. a senior economist and director with BMO Capital Markets.

“The reality is population can grow extremely fast, but the supply side of the economy like housing and service infrastructure, think health care and schools, can only catch up at a really gradual pace,” Kavcic says. “So there is a mismatch right now.”

The impact of that mismatch can most acutely be seen in the cost of rent, services and housing.

In December, Kavcic wrote in a note that Canada needs to build 170,000 new housing units every three months to keep up with population growth, noting the industry is struggling to complete 220,000 units in a full year.

To address this, Ottawa has announced plans to cap the number of new temporary residents while also reducing the number of international student visas, a move economists say could offer some relief when it comes to housing and the cost of living.

“The arithmetic on the caps actual works relatively well because it would take us back down to 1 per cent population growth which we have been used to over the last decade and which is more or less absorbable by the economy,” Kavcic says. “The question is whether or not we see policy makers follow through and hit those numbers.”

Economists believe these changes could help ease inflationary pressures and may make a Bank of Canada rate cut more likely, but could also lead to slower GDP growth.

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Canada’s population hits 41M months after breaking 40M threshold – Global News

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Nine months after reaching a population of 40 million, Canada has cracked a new threshold.

As of Wednesday morning, it’s estimated 41 million people now call the country home, according to Statistics Canada’s live population tracker.

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The speed at which Canada’s population is growing was also reflected in new data released Wednesday by the federal agency: between Jan. 1 2023 and Jan. 1 2024, Canada added 1,271,872 inhabitants, a 3.2 per cent growth rate — the highest since 1957.

Most of Canada’s 3.2 per cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration. Without it, Canada’s population growth would have been 1.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said.


Click to play video: 'Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population'

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Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population


From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, Canada’s population increased by 241,494 people (0.6 per cent), the highest rate of growth in a fourth quarter since 1956.

Usha George, a professor at the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement at Toronto Metropolitan University, told Global News in June a booming population can benefit the economy.

“It is not the bodies we are bringing in; these are bodies that fill in the empty spaces in the labour market,” she said.

“They bring a very-high level of skills.”


Click to play video: 'Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan'

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Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan


However, Ottawa has recently sought to ease the flow of temporary immigration in a bid to ease cost-of-living woes.


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Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on March 21 Ottawa would set targets for temporary residents allowed into Canada to ensure “sustainable” growth in the number of temporary residents entering the nation.

The next day, BMO economist Robert Kavcic in a note to clients the new limits will have a positive impact on Canada’s rental market and overall housing crisis.

“We’ve been firm in our argument that Canada has had an excess demand problem in housing, and this is maybe the clearest example,” Kavcic said.

“Non-permanent resident inflows, on net, have swelled to about 800K in the latest year, with few checks and balances in place, putting tremendous stress on housing supply and infrastructure.”

Alberta gains, Ontario loses: A look at Canadian migration in 2023

If Alberta is truly calling, then it appears more Canadians are choosing to answer.

Putting the pun on the provincial government’s attraction campaign aside, Canada’s wild rose country saw the largest net gain in interprovincial migration in 2023, Statistics Canada said in Wednesday’s report.


Click to play video: 'Is Alberta ready for population growth?'

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Is Alberta ready for population growth?


The agency said 55,107 Canadians moved to Alberta last year, which was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data become available in 1972.

“Alberta has been recording gains in population from interprovincial migration since 2022, a reverse of the trend seen from 2016 to 2021, when more people left the province than arrived from other parts of Canada,” Statistics Canada said.

“Approximately 333,000 Canadians moved from one province or territory to another in 2023, the second-highest number recorded since the 1990s and the third straight year that interprovincial migration topped 300,000.”

Meanwhile, British Columbia had 8,624 more residents move out than in in 2023, meaning net interprovincial migration was negative for the first time since 2012, Statistics Canada said.

In general, the largest migration flows for British Columbia and Alberta are with each other, and most of the net loss from British Columbia in 2023 was to Alberta, it added.


Click to play video: '‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population'

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‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population


It also seems that good things may no longer be growing in Ontario; Canada’s most populous province lost 36,197 people to other regions in 2023, the biggest regional loss in 2023, Statistics Canada said.

That followed a loss of 38,816 people in 2022; the only other times a province has lost more than 35,000 people due to migration to other parts of Canada occurred in Quebec in 1977 and 1978.

Alberta aside, net interprovincial migration was also up in Nova Scotia (+6,169 people), New Brunswick (+4,790) and Prince Edward Island (+818), although all three Maritime provinces gained fewer interprovincial migrants in 2023 than in the two previous years, Statistics Canada said.

— with files from Uday Rana and Sean Previl

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