HEADLINES

Bank of Canada Holds Interest Rates Steady as Officials Grapple With Policy Dilemma

The Bank of Canada left its policy rate unchanged Wednesday at 2.25%, with Gov. Tiff Macklem saying this marked the best approach to addressing the dual-sided risks of a weak economy and higher energy prices.

"We think we got the rate where we think it needs to be right now," Macklem said at a press conference following the central bank's fifth straight decision to hold rates steady.

The central bank expects inflation to be around 3% in the next coming months, or at the high end of its 1%-to-3% target range, due to elevated crude-oil prices. To date, Macklem said there's little evidence of higher energy costs broadening to lift prices for other good and services. The central bank sets interest-rate policy to achieve and maintain 2% inflation.

Bank of Canada Looks Set to Remain on Hold This Year

Macklem Makes Clear: Canada is Not In a Recession

Apotex Shares Rally as Trading Begins Following Pricing of C$1.3 Billion IPO

Apotex Health's shares jumped on debut after the Canadian drug maker priced the country's biggest initial public offering in years to raise C$1.3 billion.

The shares opened at C$28, 17% above the offering price, then cooled slightly and closed at C$27 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Apotex the night before priced the IPO at C$24 a share, the top end of the range it had been aiming for after increasing the number of shares being sold.

The so-called upsizing and market reaction are a positive sign for an IPO market in Canada that has seen a recovery in 2026 after struggling in recent years.

CIBC to Give Canadian Investors Access to SpaceX With Launch of Canadian Depositary Receipt

One of Canada's big banks is offering investors in the country access to SpaceX, launching what it says will be the first ever Canadian depositary receipt tied to a newly listed company.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said it plans to list a SpaceX depositary receipt on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with trading set to begin Friday.

The move comes as Elon Musk prepares for the blockbuster initial public offering of the rocket maker. SpaceX is expected to start trading on the Nasdaq Friday in what could be the largest IPO of all time.

North West Shares Fall as Voucher Program Wind-Down Hits Canadian Sales

North West reported lower-than-expected results in its first quarter, as its Canadian operations weakened following the end of federal voucher programs.

Shares fell 6.6% to C$49.83.

The Canadian grocer, which serves mostly remote northern communities, many of them Indigenous, had long benefited from consumers receiving federal food voucher support through programs such as the Inuit Child First Initiative and Jordan's Principle. Ottawa began winding down the programs last year as it shifted toward other forms of funding, but the result has been reduced purchasing power in many of the communities North West serves.

Aduro Clean Technologies Falls After Equity Offering Prices Below Market

Aduro Clean Technologies shares fell Wednesday after its public offering priced below recent trading levels.

Shares dropped 8.2% to C$21.53. The stock had been up 52% since the year began, and had nearly doubled in value over the last 52 weeks.

The clean technology company said its offering of 1.03 million common shares priced at C$21.20 apiece. Also, a concurrent non-brokered private placement of 471,698 shares will be offered at the same price. Aduro is aiming to raise US$22.8 million in total from the two fundraisers.

Xanadu Quantum Technologies Hits Low-Loss Milestone in Photonic Quantum Hardware Push

Xanadu Quantum Technologies said it has reached a milestone that could help improve the efficiency and scalability of its photonic quantum hardware.

The Toronto-based quantum-computing company said Wednesday that it has achieved an ultra-low level of edge-coupling loss, when light enters and exits its photonic chips, which it says is a key hurdle to making photonic quantum processors more reliable and easier to scale.

Xanadu said the advance stems from work at its photonic-chip packaging facility launched last year to speed up the development and production of next-generation integrated photonic platforms.

Hemlo Mining Graduates to Toronto Stock Exchange

Hemlo Mining is set to join the main board of the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday.

The Canadian gold producer will graduate from the TSX Venture Exchange, where its shares will voluntarily be delisted effective this Friday. Its stock symbol is set to remain HMMC.

The move marks a significant milestone and will see Hemlo join many of the world's leading gold producers, President and Chief Executive Jason Kosec said. He said the graduation is expected to broaden the company's shareholder base, boost trading liquidity and provide eligibility for potential index inclusion.

Hemlo last month received conditional approval for the shift to the TSX.

Village Farms Elects Christopher Woodward as Chairman

Village Farms International announced that Christopher Woodward has been elected as chairman of the company's board of directors for the upcoming year.

The cannabis company said Woodward will succeed John McLernon, who has served as the chairman since 2006, and will remain as a member of the Board of Directors.

Woodward previously served as trustee of the company's predecessor in Canada, Hot House Growers. He also serves as chair or director of a number of private and public companies, as well as charitable institutions.

TALKING POINT

Iran War Forces Bank of Canada to Hold Tight While Economy Struggles

By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--The Bank of Canada finds itself in a bind.

It left its main interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, at 2.25%, as senior officials try to navigate the choppiest of environments.

Tepid business investment and stagnant job growth, triggered by U.S. trade policy uncertainty, have left the economy in a weak state.

After a first-quarter contraction, growth likely resumed in the April-to-June period, Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said, but spare capacity, or slack, will remain, leaving the economy operating below potential.

In normal times, a rate cut might help do the trick. But the war in Iran and the surge in energy prices has pushed the Bank of Canada to the sidelines.

Macklem said there is no evidence that higher energy costs are spreading and lifting prices for other goods and services. Economists say that is a reflection of a fragile Canadian economy, in which companies' scope to raise prices is limited.

The central banker also warns that the U.S.-Iran conflict could drag as there is no resolution in sight, thereby increasing the risk that inflation spreads and becomes persistent.

"We're not going to let war in the Middle East become an inflation problem here in Canada," Macklem said.

Etienne Bordeleau-Labrecque, a vice-president and portfolio manager at Toronto-based Ninepoint Partners, said the central bank likely thinks "it's better to sound hawkish and be ready to act, [and] keep inflation expectations anchored for as long as possible, than hike and drive the economy" into a recession.

Macklem weighed in Wednesday on the recession debate, after Canada's gross domestic product fell for two straight quarters, and in three of the last four.

Canada "is not clearly in recession," he said, although he made clear that the economy is struggling. Over the past year, he said, "the economy hasn't really grown, but it hasn't shrunk either."

Were it not for the Middle East conflict, "I do think the Bank of Canada would have been heading in the direction of further cuts," said Stephen Brown, chief North American economist at forecasting firm Capital Economics.

Brown said the key takeaway from the Bank of Canada's latest decision is that officials view the weak economy and higher energy prices as risks carrying equal weight. Macklem said holding the benchmark interest rate at 2.25% balances the two competing risks.

"That appears to be a more explicit nod to the likelihood that the central bank will keep interest rates unchanged for the time being," Brown said.

Adding to the economic trepidation in Canada were comments Wednesday from President Trump.

Trump told reporters he isn't looking to extend the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade treaty, which comes up for formal review next month and exempts the bulk of Canadian exports from U.S. tariffs. If not renewed, the trade pact would officially expire in a decade, unless the U.S. decides to give formal notice of withdrawal.

Macklem said Canadian firms are slowly coming to grips with the revamped trade reality.

Even if there is a new trade deal between the U.S. and Canada, "I don't think you can be certain about anything, so businesses are having to adjust to that," Macklem said. He is hopeful that will spur a modest rebound in business investment after five straight quarters of declines in corporate capital expenditures.

Write to Paul Vieira at [paul.vieira@wsj.com]

Expected Major Events for Thursday

08:30/UK: 1Q Business Finance Review

10:00/FRA: Apr OECD Harmonised Unemployment Rates

12:30/CAN: Apr Building permits

12:30/US: May PPI

12:30/US: 06/06 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims

12:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales

13:00/RUS: Weekly International Reserves

14:00/US: 1Q Quarterly Services

14:30/US: 06/05 EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

16:00/US: World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE)

16:59/GER: Apr Balance of Payments

20:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings

20:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings

23:01/UK: May Scottish Retail Sales Monitor

All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

Expected Earnings for Thursday

Adobe Inc $(ADBE)$ is expected to report $4.46 for 2Q.

America's Car-Mart Inc $(CRMT)$ is expected to report $-1.12 for 4Q.

Atlantic International Corp $(ATLN)$ is expected to report for 1Q.

Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACB,ACB.T) is expected to report for 4Q.

Coffee Holding Co Inc (JVA) is expected to report $0.06 for 2Q.

Dollarama Inc (DLMAF,DOL.T) is expected to report $0.99 for 1Q.

Driven Brands Holdings Inc (DRVN) is expected to report $0.17 for 1Q.

Hooker Furnishings Corp $(HOFT)$ is expected to report $-0.09 for 1Q.

Lennar Corp - Class A (LEN,LENB) is expected to report $1.25 for 2Q.

Lovesac Co $(LOVE)$ is expected to report $-1.05 for 1Q.

McGraw Hill Inc (MH) is expected to report for 4Q.

RH $(RH)$ is expected to report $-2.24 for 1Q.

Replimune Group Inc $(REPL)$ is expected to report $-0.62 for 4Q.

Silver Bull Resources Inc (SVB.T) is expected to report for 2Q.

Transat AT (TRZ.T) is expected to report $-0.37 for 2Q.

Vera Bradley Inc (VRA) is expected to report $0.32 for 1Q.

Wall Financial Corp (WFC.T) is expected to report for 1Q.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 10, 2026 16:33 ET (20:33 GMT)

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