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 from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more.
Canada reaches tariff deal with China on electric vehicles, canolaOpen this photo in gallery:
Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a meeting in South Korea last year. Carney’s trip to China next week will be the first visit by a Canadian prime minister in more than eight years.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney has completed his four-day official visit to China, marking the first time a Canadian prime minister has gone to China since 2017. The Prime Minister announced that he reached a deal with China on electric vehicles and canola. Ottawa will allow nearly 50,000 Chinese-made EVs into Canada at a low tariff rate in return for big reductions in Beijing’s levies on canola seed and a promised elimination of its tariffs on a host of other products, Steven Chase reports. During the visit, the Carney government said it would also welcome more Chinese investment in Canadian energy, including the oil sands.
Mr. Carney – looking for new export markets to offset the economic damage of U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist tariffs – seeks to patch up ties with Beijing after a severe diplomatic rupture and years of Canada barring state-owned Chinese companies from investing or operating here.
Trump’s escalating attack on Fed Chair Jerome Powell draws pushback
On Jan. 11, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell released a video explaining that the U.S. Justice Department had served the central bank with subpoenas threatening a criminal indictment. The inquiry centres on cost overruns on renovations of two Fed buildings in Washington, and Mr. Powell’s testimony to Congress about the project. Mr. Powell alleged the threatened criminal indictment was a “pretext” to gain more influence over the central bank and monetary policy.
A statement published Monday and signed by 14 former central bankers and government officials criticized the Trump administration, Mark Rendell reports. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem also issued a statement this week in support of his U.S. counterpart, saying “Chair Powell is doing a very good job under difficult circumstances, guiding the Fed to take monetary policy decisions based on evidence, not politics.”
Fed Chair Jerome Powell issued a video statement in which he bluntly characterized the threat of criminal charges against him as simple ‘pretexts’ to undermine the Fed’s independence when it comes to setting interest rates.
The Associated Press
Decoder: The immigration shift away from Canada’s three biggest cities
The number of new immigrants in three of Canada’s largest metropolitan areas – Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal – has dropped to a record low. According to Statistics Canada, the three metropolitan areas attracted a combined 46 per cent of new immigrants over the 12 months ending in mid-2025 – down from close to 80 per cent two decades earlier.
Across Canada, the number of new immigrants is in decline as Ottawa tightens its immigration rules, falling 6.2 per cent between 2023-24 and 2024-25. But what is causing the specific decline in large cities? Jason Kirby takes a look in this latest instalment of the Decoder series.
National Bank opens Dubai officeOpen this photo in gallery:
The Dubai skyline in the United Arab Emirates in 2023. National Bank of Canada has opened its first office in the region.Kamran Jebreili/The Associated Press
National Bank of Canada announced that it has opened its first office in Dubai, coinciding with an economic mission by Ottawa to increase trade between Canadian businesses and the United Arab Emirates. Stefanie Marotta reports that the bank has been exploring the opportunity to open an office in the UAE for some time, but sprang into action in recent months as talks over trade and business agreements ramped up. The move follows a trend of Canadian companies such as Open Text Corp. and Inovia Capital setting up shop in the Middle East.
National Bank currently has international offices in London, Dublin, Paris and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Negotiations between Canada and the UAE to broker an economic partnership agreement are set to start next month.
Trump’s Greenland threats give boost to Churchill port expansionOpen this photo in gallery:
Joe Stover has lived in Churchill since 1987, and says he has long viewed the town as a place of significance when it comes to national security and sovereignty.Matt Horseman/The Globe and Mail
Recent world events suddenly seem closer than ever to the remote northern locale of Churchill, Man., thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland. If successful, Canada’s Far North would be surrounded by two U.S. holdings – Alaska and Greenland – and Russia.
The town has played a longtime role as a supply source for Canada’s Arctic, but a new project for a multibillion-dollar port expansion could enable trade routes through the Arctic. Arctic Gateway Group (AGG) is planning the proposed expansion to bolster exports of everything from critical minerals to fertilizer to energy products. But now, with Mr. Trump repeatedly declaring his desire for Greenland after musing about absorbing Canada, Churchill’s potential to help defend the country has come into sharper focus. Jeffrey Jones spoke to residents who wonder how this may all affect them and whether the expansion could help Canada bolster its sovereignty.
To find out what is happening in the Canadian economy, you can look at reams of Statistics Canada data. Or you can just measure the line-ups at McDonald’s Canada. What did the fast-food giant do this week?
a. It slashed the price of its value menu to attract cash-strapped customers
b. It announced record-beating earnings because of a flood of bargain-hunting customers
c. It hiked its prices to reflect rising food costs
d. It announced that new AI-powered kiosks would replace all human cashiers
a. It slashed the price of its value menu to attract cash-strapped customers. When McDonald’s puts its prices on a diet, you know the economy is under pressure. The company said this week that its McValue Meal bundles will now cost $5 before tax, down from $5.99 previously. The cuts reflect the financial stresses on households, according to McDonald’s Canada chief executive officer Annemarie Swijtink.
Get the rest of the questions from the weekly business and investing news quiz here, and prepare for the week ahead with The Globe’s investing calendar.