The province announced another step forward in the construction process for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension — a 9.2 kilometre addition to the yet-to-be-opened Eglinton LRT.
At a press conference on Monday, Transportation minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the province has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the design and construction of seven new stations along the extension.
The contract includes all architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical work for the stations, as well as outfitting the tunnels and the elevated guideway with track and signals.
“Across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, we’re investing billions of dollars in transforming public transit,” Sarkaria said.
“Our government knows transit keeps people moving and is a key driver of economic growth, connecting people not only to jobs, but also to friends and family, medical appointments, school and so much more.”
The line is being constructed through four contracts. Today’s announcement relates to the fourth contract, with the first three related to tunneling and the elevated guideway, which is the above-ground section of the route between Scarlett Road and Jane Street.
Tunneling work began in 2022 with almost five kilometres already complete.
The extension will start at Mount Dennis station in the east, running through Etobicoke to Renforth station in the west, with potential for a future link to Pearson International Airport.
The transportation minister faced questions at the announcement regarding the timeline and overall cost for the extension. He said they’ve learned lessons from previous projects and are focused on the procurement process, but the province is spending $70 billion over the next decade on transit projects.
Ontario’s transportation minister reveals next steps for Eglinton Crosstown West Extension
The provincial government announced on Monday that it has started the procurement process for the construction of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension light rail line. Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria says this move marks another step toward building the yet-to-be-opened Eglinton LRT.
Cameron MacLeod, executive director of CodeRedTO, a transit advocacy group, said he’s not surprised the full cost wasn’t provided.
“Unfortunately, when it comes to the Eglinton Crosstown, we’ve seen that previous predictions just didn’t pan out,” he said.
“There’s new things that have to be incorporated, and that’s a normal thing that happens … It doesn’t mean necessarily that the project is a failure.”
In a news release, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx said they will be evaluating submissions to ensure teams have the relevant experience and financial capacity to deliver a project of this size and complexity.
An estimated 69,700 rides are expected on the line each day.
“Today’s announcement is another sign of progress in delivering good, reliable transit across the city,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said in a release.
“I hope that we can soon have thousands of people filling up these stations and excited about exploring all the amazing things that Mount Dennis and the neighbouring communities have to offer.”
Ontario Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow made the announcement Monday afternoon. (CBC)
The announcement comes after years of delays to the Eglinton LRT, the 25-stop, 19-kilometre line that runs from Kennedy Station in the east to Mount Dennis station in the west.
Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster provided an update on the project Monday, saying all major construction is now complete.
“What concerns me most though is the software defects in the signaling and train control system and the rectification of those defects,” he said. “They’re making good progress with it, but it’s not as fast as we would like it to be.”
The other major concerns are in retaining outstanding occupancy certificates, he said, and the system integration tests, which are now 50 per cent complete, up from 15 per cent in December.
Verster said the transit agency will provide an opening date for the Eglinton LRT three months ahead of time.
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.
