Key insights
- Canadian housing data indicates a slight increase in Toronto home sales, but prices are down year-over-year. Microsoft's Canadian data center investments raise concerns about energy and water usage. Healthy Canadian pension plans are allowing employers to pause contributions. These factors have a slightly negative influence on US equities, reflecting potential economic headwinds and resource allocation shifts.
It’s Tuesday, April 7. Here are the top stories we’re following today.
Toronto home sales rise as buyers benefit from ‘substantial negotiating power’
More than 5,000 homes changed hands in March, a 1.7 per cent increase from the same month last year, according to the latest data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. The MLS Home Price index composite benchmark was down 7.4 per cent year over year, while the average selling price sank 6.7 per cent year over year to $1,017,796.
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The accountant shortage is starting to add up despite an easier tax filing season
The shortage of qualified accountants is a structural problem that the chaos years obscured and a calmer tax season will not fix. The people inside the system are absorbing the strain, so you don’t have to see the cracks.
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Microsoft vows data centres will not hike Canadians’ water and electricity bills
Microsoft Corp., which committed to investing $19 billion in Canada last December to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure, said AI infrastructure brings “enormous opportunity,” but it is aware Canadians have “real questions” about affordability, energy and water use, jobs and the impact on local communities.
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Canadian pension plans are so healthy that employers are taking a contribution ‘holiday,’ says Mercer
Contribution holidays can be required under the Canadian Income Tax Act when the surplus in a plan reaches a certain solvency threshold. At that stage, employers are required to pause contributions and are restricted until the surplus drops below that level.
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How Roberto Alomar and Bill Ackman offer valuable, if opposing, lessons in accountability
In one case, an institution imposed consequences without a court process. In the other, an individual may be able to avoid that process altogether.
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