People make their way through downtown Ottawa. September job losses were concentrated in the public sector, and split between full- and part-time work.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis on the biggest headlines, stock tips, personal finance strategies and more.
Canada sheds 68,000 jobs in September; unemployment rate climbs to 6.5%
Canada’s economy lost 68,000 jobs in September, according to Statistics Canada, marking a second consecutive month of losses. Economists had expected a gain of 9,200 jobs in the month.
Statscan said the job losses were nearly evenly split between full- and part-time work and were concentrated in the public sector. This is the fourth consecutive month showing a decline in the public sector, which is down 119,000 jobs year-over-year.
The unemployment rate edged up slightly to 6.5 per cent last month, back to where it stood at the start of the year in January. The September jobs report is one of the first major economic releases since the trade dispute between Canada and the United States ratcheted back up. It also marks the Bank of Canada’s last look at the labour market before its next interest rate decision set for Oct. 28.
Cleveland-Cliffs boss dismisses idea of nationalizing Stelco as Ottawa pushes to preserve jobs
Rolls of coiled coated steel are shown at Stelco Hamilton Works steel mill, owned by Cleveland-Cliffs.Peter Power/The Canadian Press
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s decision to lay off up to 500 workers in Canada is facing much contempt from both Ottawa and Canadian buyers of galvanized steel. The Stelco parent company said it began exporting tonnes of steel slab from Canada to the U.S. earlier this year, leaving its Hamilton plant without inputs to produce galvanized steel for Canadian customers, Niall McGee reports.
Meanwhile, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has issued Cleveland-Cliffs an ultimatum to comply with its employment guarantees under the Investment Canada Act or face possible legal action. There have been suggestions about the federal government instead taking over Stelco, but Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. chief executive Lourenco Goncalves dismissed the idea of nationalizing Stelco.
When asked if he would entertain an offer from Ottawa to buy Stelco, Mr. Goncalves replied that “the only thing that makes sense for us as a business” is the Canadian government signing a “Fortress North America” trade deal with the U.S.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Wednesday Stelco’s owner Cleveland-Cliffs cannot use the trade war to justify cutting jobs it committed to when it bought the Hamilton, Ont.-based steel plant, particularly when the head of its U.S. parent company has publicly backed steel tariffs.
The Canadian Press
Weston family to buy British retailer Boots for $8.9-billion with Fairfax backing
People walk past a Boots store in London, England, in August. Toronto-based Wittington Investments and Fairfax Financial are acquiring Boots, which has 1,800 stores, from a U.S. private equity fund.Mike Kemp/Getty Images
The Weston family is acquiring drug-store chain Boots for US$8.9-billion, including assumed debt, with financial backing from Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. The family’s Toronto-based holding company, Wittington Investments Ltd., is buying the 1,800-store Boots chain from U.S. private equity fund Sycamore Partners.
Boots dominates the market for pharmacies in the United Kingdom, with 51,000 employees, a strong brand and stores located close to 80 per cent of the population. Wittington previously owned U.K. high-end department store Selfridges from 2003 to 2021.
“As Canada builds stronger ties around the globe, we are delighted to welcome the UK’s most iconic pharmacy, health, and beauty business into our group of companies,” Galen Weston, chairman of Wittington and Loblaw, said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail. Mr. Weston will become the chair of Boots after the acquisition closes.
Emera bids for national powerhouse with $35-billion Canadian Utilities, ATCO merger
Emera CEO Scott Balfour says the company wants to build networks to support data centres, pipelines and electrical grids through its merger with Canadian Utilities and parent company ATCO.Arlyn McAdorey/The Globe and Mail
Halifax-based Emera Inc. unveiled a bold plan to build a national champion in the utility sector by merging with Calgary-based Canadian Utilities Ltd. and its parent ATCO Ltd.
Emera announced on Tuesday a friendly all-stock offer in a deal that would create one of the 20 largest utilities in North America. The combined companies would have an enterprise value – their debt plus equity – of $72-billion, which the three companies said would rank as one of the largest mergers in Canadian history.
The transaction unites Emera gas and electrical networks in Nova Scotia, Florida and the Caribbean with Canadian Utilities’ operations in Alberta and Australia. The bulked-up company would be well positioned to compete with U.S. rivals vying for the massive projects driven by a fast-growing demand for energy, Andrew Willis reports.
Startups are hiring low-paid gig workers to train robots on manual labour
Reporter Joe Castaldo downloaded Atlas Capture to get a firsthand look at what it takes to train a robot to do human tasks. To start earning money for his video submissions, Joe first had to pass a test by cleaning his living room.Jon Laytner/The Globe and Mail
How do you train a robot? Companies are paying gig workers to record themselves completing household chores in order to use this footage to teach AI-powered humanoids.
Reporter Joe Castaldo was fascinated by this idea, and soon came across a then-obscure Canadian startup called Mecka AI that collects video data for robotics training. One of its customers is 1X Technologies, which is building a domestic humanoid robot. Mecka has now raised more than US$120-million and is projecting a US$300-million revenue run rate by the end of the year.
One of the ways companies do this is low-tech: You download an app, strap a smartphone to your forehead and record yourself performing household chores, like folding laundry or cooking a meal. For your troubles, you can earn US$3 on some platforms for every hour of footage – if the video is accepted, that is. If your hands are out of frame or if the video is too shaky, it could be rejected.
Castaldo tried it out for himself, and reports on the massive global effort to capture how we move through physical space to build AI-powered robots.
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