Live news: Metroland Media ends print editions of 71 community newspapers, lays off 605 workers

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12:05 p.m.

Metroland Media seeks bankruptcy protection, lays off 605 workers

Metroland Media Group says it plans to end the print editions of its 71 community newspapers and will exit the flyer business as it seeks protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act as part of a restructuring plan.
The move will mean the loss of 605 jobs or about 60 per cent of its total workforce. Affected staff will not be given termination or severance pay, the Toronto Star reported, because of insufficient funds.

Metroland said the decision is a result of unsustainable financial losses stemming from the changing preferences of consumers and advertisers.

Under the plan, Metroland’s community publications will move to a digital only model.

Meanwhile, the company’s six daily newspapers, including the Hamilton Spectator, Peterborough Examiner, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune, and the Waterloo Region Record, will continue both in print and online.

Metroland is owned by NordStar Capital, which also owns the Toronto Star newspaper. The Star is not part of the restructuring.

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The Canadian Press with additional reporting from Financial Post

12 p.m.

Midday markets update: TSX ekes out a gain while U.S. stocks in the red

Canada’s main stock index was little changed in midday trading, while United States markets traded lower, led by losses in tech.

The S&P/TSX composite was up 10.05 points to 20,577.89 at noon.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 155.86 points to 34,721.25. The S&P 500 index was down 36.74 points to 4,468.36, while the Nasdaq composite was down 1178.72 points to 13,747.33.


11:30 a.m.

Ottawa’s CEBA loan extension called ‘slap in the face’ by business

Losing the forgivable portion of the CEBA loan would put nearly 250,000 small businesses in jeopardy, says the CFIB. Photo by Peter J Thompson/National Post

Businesses in Canada says the federal government’s efforts to ease the burden of repaying COVID loans or CEBA are “laughable” and a “slap in the face.”

More than $49 billion was lent to businesses to help them survive the challenges of the pandemic. Ottawa announced this week the overall repayment timeline would be extended a year but the deadline to meet the condition for a forgiveness grant by only 18 days.

“It’s almost like a slap in the face. What are 18 days going to do for a business that has been struggling for the last two to three years?” said one Edmonton business owner.

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The Financial Post’s Naimul Karim talks to businesses across Canada to get their reaction.


10:15 a.m.

Home price gains in Canada slow as sales slump

A sold sign in front of a home in Ontario. Photo by Ashley Fraser/Postmedia

National home sales were down 4.1 per cent compared to July. The sales figures were pulled lower by declines in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton and Burlington, Ont., as well as London and St. Thomas, Ont., CREA said.

The non-seasonally adjusted national average home price was $650,140 in August, up 2.1 per cent from August 2022.
CREA’s senior economist, Shaun Cathcart, said the dip in activity in August was expected following the Bank of Canada’s July interest rate hike.

10 a.m.

Opening Bell

The S&P 500 was down 0.4 per cent after the bell. The Dow edged down 37 points and the Nasdaq composite was off 0.5 per cent. The TSX was up 42 points.

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7:30 a.m.

UAW launches historic strike at Big Three automakers

UAW members picket outside of the UAW Local 900 headquarters across the street from the Ford Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan on Sept. 15, 2023. Photo by MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images

In an unprecedented move that bodes ill for Canada, United Auto Workers began a targeted strike at all three of the legacy Detroit carmakers, kicking off a potentially costly and protracted showdown over wages and job security.

After the midnight deadline for a new contract passed, workers walked out on a Ford Motor Co. plant in Michigan that makes Bronco SUVs, a General Motors Co. factory in Missouri that assembles Chevrolet Colorado pickups and a Stellantis NV plant in Ohio that builds Jeep Wrangler SUVs.

“Tonight, for the first time in our history, we will strike all three of the Detroit Three at once,” UAW president Shawn Fain said late last night.

The strike will likely affect Canada’s auto industry as well as the two are deeply integrated. Automakers rely on operations and suppliers in Canada and the U.S. as components criss-cross the border before they are assembled into a finished vehicle.

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The strike deadline for Canadian auto workers talks with Ford Motors Co is Monday.

Bloomberg and Financial Post


Before the bell

Stocks are rallying this morning after better-than-expected economic data in China fuelled hopes stimulus measures are paying off.

But take care — it’s triple witching day. This event, which only happens four times a year, is when expiration of stock options, stock index futures, and stock index options all fall on the same day and it’s been known to trigger volume spikes and volatility.

According to MarketWatch today is on track to be the largest September expiry on record involving contracts attached to US$3.4 trillion worth of U.S. stocks, ETFs and indexes — so buckle up.


What to watch today

Today’s data: Canada’s manufacturing sales for July and International Securities Transactions. Stateside it’s U.S. trade price indicesi, Empire State Manufacturing Surveyi, and University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index

Additional reporting by The Canadian Press, Associated Press and Bloomberg

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