{"id":859232,"date":"2026-08-15T17:02:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T17:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/859232\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T17:02:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T17:02:37","slug":"canadian-trade-officials-in-washington-moneris-sale-to-u-s-private-equity-and-air-canada-sells-25-of-aeroplan-stake-must-read-business-and-investing-stories-for-the-week-of-aug-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/859232\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian trade officials in Washington, Moneris sale to U.S. private equity and Air Canada sells 25% of Aeroplan stake: Must-read business and investing stories for the week of Aug. 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Janice Charette, Canada’s chief trade negotiator to the United States, departs a meeting in Washington on Tuesday alongside Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. relations.Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here\u2019s your weekly digest of The Globe\u2019s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis on the biggest headlines, stock tips, personal finance strategies and more.<\/p>\n

Canadian trade officials in Washington as tariff deadline nearsOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. LeBlanc and Ms. Charette speak to the media in Washington, D.C., in June.Anna Rose Layden\/Reuters<\/p>\n

As U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s tariff deadline approaches next week, Canada\u2019s top trade emissaries are in Washington scrambling for a trade deal. A new round of 50-per-cent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods is set to take effect on Aug. 19. <\/p>\n

Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and lead trade negotiator Janice Charette sat down on Thursday with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at the Winder Building office near the White House \u2013 the fourth meeting in the last three weeks. Last week, Ms. Charette told Mr. Greer<\/a> that, if the latest tariffs come into effect, negotiations would come to a halt and Canada would be forced to retaliate.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised a deal that will reduce Mr. Trump\u2019s tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and forest products. Ottawa is weighing a proposal<\/a> that would see Ottawa accept U.S. auto tariffs in exchange for a reduction on levies for vehicles compliant with USMCA. Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he is open to putting American alcohol back on store shelves<\/a> if a \u201cfair deal\u201d is reached. <\/p>\n

RBC, BMO agree to sell Moneris to U.S. private equity firm for about $2-billionOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A customer makes a purchase at a Canada Post office in Toronto. Thousands of businesses in Canada use Moneris\u2019 point-of-sale machines and other services.Christopher Katsarov\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, RBC and BMO agreed to jointly sell Canadian payment processor Moneris Solutions Corp.<\/a> to an American private equity firm for about $2-billion in cash. This is significant because thousands of businesses use Moneris\u2019 point-of-sale machines and other services to accept and manage payments, handling one-third of transactions across the country. <\/p>\n

The sale to California-based Francisco Partners requires regulatory approvals, including clearance under the Competition Act, but it has prompted concerns from payment industry leaders<\/a> who say the deal could erode Canada\u2019s data sovereignty and compromise the infrastructure used to move money.<\/p>\n

The topic has also become a major focus for Ottawa. Last September, AI Minister Evan Solomon said at a conference in Montreal<\/a> that Canada needs to create a sovereign digital economy that is \u201cfree from coercion\u201d and that someone \u201ccan\u2019t decide to turn off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Group of B.C. Amazon workers tries to decertify union on verge of securing historic agreementOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A group of employees at Amazon’s YVR2 fulfillment centre in Delta, B.C., relaunched an internal campaign to decertify Unifor as their official union representative.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Hundreds of unionized Amazon warehouse workers are on the verge of securing a historic first collective agreement this month \u2013 but have hit a roadblock. Amazon has asked the BC Labour Relations Board to pause bargaining with Unifor Local 114<\/a> at its Delta, B.C., warehouse after a separate group of employees tried to get the union decertified altogether. The unknown number of employees are asking the labour board to make the results of the decertification vote public before a first collective agreement becomes official, saying they believe more than 50 per cent of employees do not want to be unionized.<\/p>\n

Amazon and the union have been in hostile negotiations for more than a year over the terms of a first contract. If agreed upon, it would become the first-ever valid collective agreement in North America between Amazon and a group of employees \u2013 a milestone achievement for a workers\u2019 movement that has been pushing to unionize warehouses since the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Air Canada sells 25% stake in Aeroplan to Blackstone and pension-fund group for $2.5-billionOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Blackstone and the Caisse de d\u00e9p\u00f4t et placement du Qu\u00e9bec are leading the deal, which values the Aeroplan program at $10-billion.Mike Blake\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Air Canada is selling a 25-per-cent stake in its Aeroplan loyalty program<\/a> for $2.5-billion to Blackstone Inc. and a group of Canadian pension funds. Blackstone and the Caisse de d\u00e9p\u00f4t et placement du Qu\u00e9bec are leading the deal. Other investors include the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and British Columbia Investment Management Corp.<\/p>\n

The deal, which gives Aeroplan a valuation of over $10-billion, keeps the program under Canadian control, while giving pension funds and Blackstone a chance to receive distributions from Aeroplan.<\/p>\n

Air Canada is keeping control of Aeroplan\u2019s day-to-day management, and plans to use proceeds from the sale to repay $1.7-billion of bonds and to buy back $800-million in shares. The transaction is expected to close on Aug. 17.<\/p>\n

Inside the agency advancing Carney\u2019s major projects agendaOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney makes an announcement in Terrace, B.C., last November.ETHAN CAIRNS\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Almost a year ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney set up the Major Projects Office as the centrepiece of his strategy to ignite a national construction boom. Nearly 12 months in, the MPO is evaluating a slew of multibillion-dollar proposals for accelerated regulatory treatment while also facing questions about transparency, speed and the challenges that still lie ahead.<\/p>\n

Reporters Jeffrey Jones and Stephanie Levitz spoke to more than a dozen business and Ottawa insiders and reviewed hours of parliamentary testimony and dozens of pages of documentation into the MPO\u2019s workings to take a look at how it is performing as its 150 staff members pore over $192-billion worth of projects. They examine how the operation works<\/a> as it heads into a crucial period when it will start issuing its recommendations on key projects.<\/p>\n

Prepare for the week ahead with The Globe\u2019s investing calendar<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Janice Charette, Canada’s chief trade negotiator to the United States, departs a meeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1397,10456,10457,9335,10458,49,48,44,2922,5756,2785],"class_list":["post-859232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-appwebview","tag-aud-growth","tag-aud-headline","tag-aud-url","tag-business-roundup","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news","tag-noastack","tag-yesapplenews","tag-yessnap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}