Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world this week:
> Foreign buyers
CMHC will release a report on foreign buyers in the condo market on Monday. Foreign buyers taxes were enacted in B.C. in 2016 and Ontario in 2017 as part of efforts by the respective provincial governments to cool overheated real estate markets.
> Bank earnings
Scotiabank, BMO and CIBC will release first-quarter results next week. The first three months are traditionally the strongest quarter of the banks’ financial year, but market volatility and slower mortgage growth during the period could weigh on their latest results.
> Inflation snapshot
Statistics Canada will release its consumer price index for January on Wednesday. The agency’s CPI for December found that Canada’s annual inflation rate saw an unexpected acceleration to two per cent as higher costs for airfares and fresh vegetables offset cheaper prices at the pump.
> Flying high
Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu speaks at the company’s 2019 investor day on Thursday. An air passenger advocacy group last week said would-be regulations that allow airlines to keep travellers on the tarmac for up to three hours and 45 minutes are “unacceptable” and grant more than twice the time permitted under European Union legislation.
> Economic update
Statistics Canada will release fourth-quarter GDP figures on Friday. The Canadian economy grew at an annual pace of 2.0% in the third quarter, compared with an annualized pace of 2.9% in the second quarter.