TORONTO — Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:
Household debt
Statistics Canada will release on Monday its national balance sheet and financial flow accounts for the fourth quarter of 2022. The figures include the much-watched household-debt-to-income figures for Canadians.
Ritchie Bros.-IAA shareholder votes
Shareholders of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. and IAA Inc. are set to vote Tuesday on a deal that would see Ritchie Bros. acquire the U.S. company. A number of Ritchie Bros. shareholders have voiced their opposition to the deal, which requires approval by shareholders of both companies. Ritchie Bros. has said the deal will unlock "substantial additional value" that neither company could achieve on its own.
Economic data
The picture of how the economy started off the year will become a little clearer this week. Statistics Canada will release its monthly survey of manufacturing for January on Tuesday followed by wholesale trade figures for the first month of 2023 on Thursday.
Home sales
The Canadian Real Estate Association is expected to release its home sales figures for February on Wednesday. Home sales in January posted their worst start to the year since 2009 as they fell 37.1 per cent compared with the start of 2022. The actual average price in January was $612,204, down 18.3 per cent from January 2022.
Empire results
Grocer Empire Company Ltd. will release its third-quarter results on Thursday. Empire chief executive Michael Medline was in the hot seat last week along with other grocery executives who faced questions at a parliamentary committee studying food price inflation at the grocery store.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:EMP.A, TSX:RBA)
The Canadian Press
