More than half of all Canadians who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine have now been fully inoculated with both required doses, according to nationwide data.
As of Monday evening, the COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker shows 50.4 per cent of Canadians aged 12 and over — more than 16,751,000 people — have received two doses. That’s equal to nearly 44 per cent of the total population.
Some provinces are seeing even higher numbers. More than 57 per cent of people aged 12 and over in Manitoba have been fully vaccinated, while Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick and the three territories have cracked 50 per cent as well.
Second doses have accelerated across Canada. Over the past month, the share of the total population that has been fully inoculated has quadrupled.
Meanwhile, the pace for first doses has slowed compared to the surge seen in the spring. The past 30 days has seen vaccinations increase by just over five per cent of the population, compared to nearly 24 per cent during the 30 days before.
Just over 79 per cent of eligible Canadians, or close to 69 per cent of the total population, have received at least one dose.
Health officials have stressed the importance of getting a second shot in order to combat the more transmissible Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, which has proven to be more resistant to a single dose.
On Monday, 296 new infections were reported, the lowest daily number since Aug. 23 of last year. Less than 450 new cases were reported per day on Saturday and Sunday as well.
The latest data has brought the seven-day average down to 451.6 cases per day — a number also not seen since the end of last August.
Only two new deaths were confirmed over the past 24 hours: one in Manitoba, the other in Yukon. The seven-day average for new deaths has fallen to 10.
Hospitalizations are also diving overall, falling to 521 on Monday from 612 the previous week.
Local governments are responding to the plummeting case counts by lifting public health restrictions in an effort to get their economies back to normal.
4:14 Dr. Tam addresses slowdown in COVID-19 vaccine rates among young adults
Dr. Tam addresses slowdown in COVID-19 vaccine rates among young adults
On Sunday, Saskatchewan — which had just 19 cases on Monday — became the second province in the country to lift all remaining restrictions.
Alberta, which saw 30 new cases, was the first to fully reopen on Canada Day. The Calgary Stampede has been allowed to take place under some limited restrictions.
Manitoba, which saw 31 new infections Monday, is expected to announce the next step in its own reopening plan this week.
Ontario will allow gyms and restaurants to resume indoor operations this Friday, while raising capacity limits for indoor social gatherings. The step comes days early as the province, which reported 114 new cases Monday, meets its vaccination targets ahead of expectations.
More restrictions lifted on Monday in Quebec, including the expansion of physical distancing limits and the removal of caps on indoor capacity for retail stores. The province reported 52 new cases the same day.
Only one new case was reported across Atlantic Canada on Monday, in Nova Scotia, although Newfoundland and Labrador did not report any data due to the Orangemen’s Day holiday.
Nova Scotia is set to move into Phase 4 of its reopening plan on Wednesday, which will see a loosening of mask rules and normal operating rules for restaurants, retail stores and gyms.
Another 30 cases were announced in British Columbia, which lifted more restrictions at the beginning of July. The province is waiting until September before it considers lifting all remaining public health orders.
The Yukon reported 19 new infections between Friday and Monday as the territory continues to combat an outbreak linked to the Gamma variant, first identified in Brazil. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut did not see any new cases.
To date, Canada has seen a total of 1,421,127 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 26,439 people have died and 1,389,546 have recovered.
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.
