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Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, whose province is home to a large dairy industry, said on Thursday that she was analysing what the deal will mean for Quebec farmers before deciding on whether to restore US alcohol sales.Doug Ford, the traditionally outspoken premier of Canada's largest province Ontario, has yet to comment publicly on the deal.Meanwhile, other premiers, namely of Nova Scotia and the Yukon territory, said they were prepared to restore US alcohol sales. The mayor of an Ontario city that is home to the country's second-largest steel producer told the CBC that a deal that includes 25% tariffs on the sector "wouldn't be something to celebrate"."I am worried with the news that's coming out that we are not seeing a deal that will benefit our community at the very least," Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said.But Carney has also faced pressure from businesses and stakeholders to reach a deal that would avert an additional 50% tariff that Trump has threatened on...

Top Canadian negotiator Dominic LeBlanc said that a US trade deal was not finalised, with just hours left until a midnight deadline when steep new tariffs are set to come into force. "We have more work to do. We're going to continue working up until the last minute. Our job is not finished," Mr LeBlanc told reporters as he left the office of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer after hours of talks. In the latest salvo amid months of trade hostility, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose new 50% duties on a range of Canadian products by Wednesday. But he issued a last-minute delay, citing major progress in talks. Canadian negotiators have been in Washington this week trying to finalise a deal that reportedly aims to address various flash points. Mr LeBlanc arrived with his team at Greer's office past midday yesterday and only left around 7:30pm. Both officials also met for around three hours on Thursday. Mr LeBlanc leaves the Office of the United...

Negotiators press on in Washington hours before new 50 percent US duties take effect WASHINGTON: Canada's lead negotiator Dominic LeBlanc said late on Friday that a trade deal with the United States had not been finalized, with hours left before a midnight deadline when steep new tariffs were due to come into force. "We have more work to do. We're going to continue working up until the last minute. Our job is not finished," LeBlanc told reporters as he left the office of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer after hours of talks.US President Donald Trump had threatened to impose new duties of 50 percent on a range of Canadian products by Wednesday, the latest move in months of trade hostility, but issued a last-minute delay, citing significant progress in the negotiations. Canadian officials have spent the week in Washington trying to complete an agreement reported to address several points of friction.LeBlanc arrived with...

Canada's minister responsible for trade with the United States said late Friday that a trade deal was not yet finalized. Washington ‌and ​Ottawa have been racing to reach an agreement before steep new US tariffs were due to take effect. "We have more work to do. We're going to continue working up until the last minute. Our job is not finished," Dominic LeBlanc told reporters following talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. LeBlanc's comments came after President Donald Trump said the US "should be able to have a deal with Canada," citing his "good relationship" with Prime Minister Mark Carney. Trump hits Canada with 50% tariffs in major trade escalationTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Trump's trade dispute with Canada In July, Trump threatened to impose new 50% duties on some Canadian products by Wednesday, but announced a three-day pause due to major progress in trade talks. This means the tariffs would take effect at 12:01 a.m....

Canada’s unemployment rose in April but details less alarming The Bottom Line: Canada lost 18,000 jobs in April, adding to declines in earlier in the year for a cumulative loss of 112,000 in 2026 to date. The unemployment rate ticked back up to 6.9%, matching last April’s level. Hours worked remained essentially flat, and the labour force participation rate increased. Critically, and consistent with earlier trends, rising unemployment was driven not by layoffs but by weak hiring. Permanent layoffs in Canada continued to decline in April, sitting 10% below their October 2025 peak. Instead, unemployment rose as more workers left their jobs to seek new positions and new labour market entrants struggled to find work.We continue to look through near-term volatility, and expect resilient domestic spending from consumers, businesses and governments will support gradual improvements in labour conditions later this year.   The details: Employment edged down 18,000 in April, more than reversing the 14,000 gain in March. Losses were concentrated in full-time employment and the goods-producing sectors,...

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada reported a modest rebound in the labour market in March after two consecutive months of job losses to start the year. The agency said employers collectively added 14,000 jobs in March, roughly in line with economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7 per cent. StatCan said there was little variation in employment across age demographics, full- and part-time work and the private and public sectors in March. Growth was led by a category the agency calls “other services,” which includes repair and maintenance work in the economy. The 15,000 jobs added here offset a similar-sized decline in February, StatCan said. The professional, scientific and technical services sector, the natural resources industry and tariff-sensitive manufacturing all posted job gains in March. The finance, insurance, real estate and leasing sector led last month’s declines with a loss of 11,000 positions, which StatCan said was the industry’s first significant monthly decline since November 2023. A loss of 19,000 jobs in British Columbia last month...

WASHINGTON -- Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says there is still “more work to do” to seal a trade deal with the United States just hours ahead of President Donald Trump’s midnight tariff deadline.LeBlanc left the table shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, telling reporters waiting outside that his team would continue working “up until the last minute.”“Our job is not finished,” he said. “Canadian workers, Canadian businesses expect us to do all of this important work.”LeBlanc is not expected to return to talks this evening, but Canada’s chief trade negotiator Janice Charette remained at the table.Trump said earlier Friday the trade deal with Canada is “moving along,” as his latest tariff threat on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods is set to take effect just after midnight.Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One just hours before that deadline, Trump said the U.S. “should” be able to reach a deal with Canada.“Pretty much, I think so, we’ll see,” the president...

Canada could lose 102,000 jobs and the United States 214,000 by 2027 if the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement collapses, according to a report prepared for the Canadian American Business Council by Oxford Economics. The study warns that even leaving today’s tariffs in place would slow export growth and keep unemployment elevated, while critics argue the government has left workers exposed and needs to spell out its red lines before signing any renewed deal. The stakes are magnified by how much of Canada’s economy rides on a single customer. With more than three-quarters of the country’s goods exports flowing south, forecasters have repeatedly flagged the relationship as an existential economic dependency rather than a routine trade file. “With more than 75 percent of Canadian goods exports going to the United States, it is imperative that Canada gets its relationship with the U.S. right,” wrote Zachary Siewert, a manager at Cultivate Labs and a professional forecaster at the RAND Forecasting Initiative, in an analysis...

OTTAWA — Canada’s unemployment rate rose to a six-month high in April to 6.9 per cent as the economy lost a net 17,700 jobs, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday, indicating continued weakness in a labor market that has struggled in the face of U.S. tariffs and trade uncertainty.Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a net gain of 15,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 6.7 per cent, almost mirroring the data from March, when employment rose by 14,100 and the jobless rate was unchanged.The Bank of Canada said in its Monetary Policy Report last month that indicators such as the employment rate, hours worked and job vacancies suggest there is slack, or underutilized capacity, in the labor market, although layoffs remain modest.The looming uncertainty around the future of the North American free trade deal and the knock-on impacts of the higher prices from the Iran war has added to the negative impact of U.S. tariffs on the economy for...

Apple is cutting around 200 jobs across its hardware and software divisions as it shifts focus toward new products and artificial intelligence, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The layoffs hit teams working on the pricey Vision Pro headset, including its gaming division and immersive video group. Apple is scaling back these efforts to reflect how customers actually use the device and to curb expenses. Producing immersive video content can cost millions of dollars per episode, while the Vision Pro has struggled to gain traction as a gaming platform. On the software side, Apple is eliminating roles within its Siri and Intelligence Systems Experience teams. The changes are designed to restructure engineering teams around Apple’s new AI architecture and accelerate the development of upcoming artificial intelligence features across its lineup. “As we continue to evolve our business to deliver the best experiences for our users, we are realigning some of our teams,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement, adding that affected employees will...