Air Canada Losses, Pension Increases, Property Trends: Business and Investing Stories You Need to Know This Week

Caught in a week that got away? A weekly digest of The Globe’s most important business and investing stories, including professional insights and analysis, stock tips and portfolio strategy.

Air Canada continues turmoil with second quarter loss

Despite strong demand for ticket sales, Air Canada posted a loss of $386 million in the second quarter, highlighting the continuing damage the pandemic and travel shutdowns are doing to the airline industry. As reported by Eric Atkins, the company lost $1.60 per share. His operating revenue for the three months ended June 30 nearly quintupled to his $3.98 billion as Air Canada flew more than 9.1 million of his passengers. But the rush to get back to flying has overwhelmed airports, airlines and government agencies, causing long lines, delays and cancellations at several airports. Air Canada has shortened its schedule this summer as it faces staffing shortages.

P.S. Your boss is having a hard time but is afraid to tell anyone

Tim Kiladze writes that if your boss is burned out, it’s likely he won’t tell anyone about it. A recent survey of his 1,200 managers in 11 private and public sector organizations found that workplace stigma continues to deter many from revealing their mental health problems. It turns out that there is Over the course of the pandemic, executives and senior management have realized the importance of supporting struggling employees. But something is breaking down at the top of the organization, and the pace of work is only increasing.

Inflation is coming because of pandemic savings

The mounds of savings many Canadians built up early in the pandemic are now being eroded by inflation. According to Statistics Canada, average net household savings fell 44% to $1,900 from the same period last year, “as inflation pressures weighed on spending.” But not all households have been hit equally. Jason Kirby analyzes the savings gap in his Decoder this week.

Why not practice delayed gratification with OAS pension payments?

Starting last week, the Canadian government permanently increased Old Age Security payments by 10% for those aged 75 and over. This is his first permanent increase to his OAS pension since 1973. 10 percent boost. As Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald and Doug Chandler explain, OAS can be deferred for up to five years in exchange for an increase in monthly payments of 0.6% for each month the pension is deferred. If public pensions can be delayed, it is an excellent financial strategy to improve long-term retirement income security.

How Canopy’s Cannabis Dreams Came in Smoke

Canopy Growth Corp., once Canada’s top licensed cannabis grower by market share, saw its share price plummet from $67.74 on Sept. 7, 2018 to $3.50 at market close on Friday. . The recent vicious cycle has been particularly hard on US alcohol giant Constellation Brands. The company invested a total of $5.2 billion in Canopy at a time when it seemed like recreational weed could be the next big thing. what happened? Tim Kiladze and Irene Galea investigate the cause of his Canopy’s death.

Rising interest rates continue to rock the real estate market

Sales and home prices in the two most expensive markets of Toronto and Vancouver fell further in July. This is because mortgages have become out of reach for many and buyers will wait and see how low prices go. The Toronto area saw a 47% drop in home resale compared to the same month last year, while the Vancouver area saw a 43% drop in resale year-over-year, a 23% drop from June. Sales of pre-construction condominiums have also plummeted due to a downturn in real estate due to soaring interest rates. The Toronto developer is expected to delay the launch of 10,000 condos this year as demand continues to falter.

ICYMI: Corporate Canada has not made substantial progress on diversity.

Two years after signing the BlackNorth Initiative, a 2020 pledge to tackle systemic racism, the vast majority of companies have failed to reach the diversity they promised to achieve over five years. are not making progress towards their goals. For his three key metrics of Black employees, Black executives and Black directors, only about 10% of the 481 companies that signed up reported improvements over the past two years. In fact, 70% of the companies that signed the pledge said they didn’t respond to The Globe’s survey or track their data. Therefore, post-2020 improvements in Black and other racialized workforce numbers were evident only in a minority of companies.

You’re all set, so get ready for the next week with Globe’s investment calendar.

Your time is precious. Get the top business headlines newsletter conveniently delivered to your inbox in the morning or evening. SIGN UP TODAY.