HEADLINES
Canada, General Dynamics Partner in $1.4 Billion Armored-Combat-Support-Vehicle Agreement
Canada struck an agreement with General Dynamics for 190 armored combat support vehicles as the country continues to beef up its military hardware.
The country's army needs new vehicles as its presence grows at home and abroad and the strategic partnership with the defense contractor would expand the Canadian Armed Forces fleet to 550 armored vehicles and can support operations for decades to come, Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
The investment of almost C$2 billion over four years adds to the big increase in military spending by Ottawa since Carney came to office, as he pledged to raise the amount of money put into defense to levels not seen in more than half a century.
Housing Starts Continue to Pull Back, Falling 5.6% in June
Starts on new home construction in Canada took another step back last month as uncertainty and costs weigh on the industry, adding to signs the property market remains sluggish.
Housing starts across Canada came in at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 238,971 units in June, a decline of 5.6% from the month before, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said. The market was expecting about 255,000 residential housing projects to have started during the month, according to economists at TD Securities.
The retreat builds on a 6.1% pull back in April.
The trend measure--a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts--fell 2.8% to 248,123 units in June, Canada's national housing agency said.
Arbutus Files More Patent Infringement Suits Against Pfizer, BioNTech
Arbutus Biopharma and its licensee Genevant filed three patent infringement lawsuits against Pfizer and BioNTech for its lipid nanoparticle technology.
The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is seeking monetary relief and injunctions against Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccines using lipid nanoparticle technology, Arbutus said.
Arbutus filed the lawsuits in Canada and the United Patent Court, which covers several European countries.
The actions expand on Arbutus' continuing proceedings in a New Jersey district court, where the company is seeking compensation for alleged infringement of five U.S. patents in Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccines.
Couche-Tard Renews Share-Buyback Program
Alimentation Couche-Tard renewed a buyback program for up to 10% of its public float of shares, returning some of what it says is strong cash flow to shareholders.
The Canadian company, parent of the Couche-Tard and Circle K chains of convenience stores and gas stations, said the Toronto Stock Exchange has approved the program authorizing it to repurchase up to 74.2 million of its shares. The shares can be bought over a 12-month period through July 22, 2027.
Shares rose 1.6% to C$90.41.
Under the buyback plan that is set to expire on Wednesday, Couche-Tard had by July 9 repurchased 30.3 million shares through the Toronto Stock Exchange and alternative Canadian trading systems at a total cost of about US$1.59 billion.
Metro Sells Commercial Bakery Facility for C$90 Million, Partners With Buyer FGF Brands
Canadian grocer Metro is selling its commercial bakery facility in the Montreal area to FGF Brands, which will manufacture and distribute Metro subsidiary Premiere Moisson's products sold in food stores.
Toronto-based FGF Brands, a family-owned bakery company that was founded in 2004, will buy Premiere Moisson's production facility in Baie-D'Urfe for C$90 million.
Metro said the exit is part of its ongoing efforts to focus its investments and resources on its core food and pharmaceutical retail and distribution operations, and will simplify its model with the support of a specialized partner.
The agreement will allow Metro to continue offering Premiere Moisson products to customers through its Quebec and Ontario food-store network. Premiere Moisson will remain a Metro subsidiary and will retain ownership of its brand, 25 retail bakeries across Quebec, in-store production operations, and its French pastry production facility in Vaudreuil-Dorion.
Orvana Minerals Set to Ramp Up Production in Bolivia
Orvana Minerals expects to begin ramping up production in Bolivia in the coming days as the miner recovers following logistics disruptions in the country that delayed the start up schedule for an oxides stockpile project.
The Canadian company said it has completed all preparations for oxide ore processing, putting it on track for continuous production from both its Bolivia and Spain operations.
Orvana produced 10,833 gold-equivalent ounces during its fiscal third quarter. That included 9,656 troy ounces gold, 640,000 pounds of copper and 19,487 silver ounces.
The company's operation in Spain was the sole producing asset during the quarter as nationwide road blockades and civil unrest in Bolivia delayed shipments to its operations there.
The Oravalle operation in northern Spain produced 10,008 gold-equivalent ounces in the third quarter of fiscal 2026.
TALKING POINT
Canadian Securities Watchdogs Seek Feedback on Modernizing Regulation of Public Companies
By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA--The umbrella body for Canada's securities regulators is considering a shakeup of the rules governing public companies in a bid to smooth access to capital, including broadening a pilot project to axe quarterly reporting and streamlining how firms disclose material changes.
The Canadian Securities Administrators published Thursday a consultation paper seeking input on possible ways to modernize securities legislation.
The call for comment is part of an ongoing effort to ensure the regulatory framework in Canada supports the competitiveness of capital markets in the country and balances investor protection, said Stan Magidson, chair of the CSA and chair and chief executive of the Alberta Securities Commission.
The CSA and the provincial and territorial securities regulators it covers earlier this year launched a multi-year trial that allows eligible small listed companies to voluntarily adopt semi-annual financial reporting, doing away with required reports at the three- and nine-month marks. More than 10% of eligible companies with revenue under 10 million Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about US$7.1 million, have to date opted to shift to a semi-annual framework.
Among topics the council of securities regulators is now seeking comment on is how changes to periodic reporting, capital raising and disclosure in the U.S. should inform the approach to regulation in Canada.
This comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission in May published a proposal to permit U.S. domestic companies to file their interim financial reports on a semi-annual basis. The U.S. regulator has this year also proposed other changes, including amendments that would expand access to shelf registration allowing companies to register a new issue of securities without having to sell the entire issue at once and changes that would extend scaled disclosure accommodations to a broader set of companies.
Such proposals raise the question of how changes to the fundamental requirements in periodic reporting, capital raising and disclosure in the U.S. should be considered in a broader assessment of the Canadian regulatory framework, the CSA said in its paper. It is asking for comment on potentially expanding the current semi-annual reporting framework to all listed companies on a voluntary basis. If this framework is expanded, it is asking what the potential impacts on investor protection, compliance costs and market transparency might be.
There are roughly 3,000 listed issuers in Canada and nearly $6 trillion in aggregate market capitalization, with about 76% of those being public companies and 24% that don't meet the Canadian securities law definition of a venture issuer, the CSA said. Market cap is highly concentrated in a small number of companies, with about 12% of the biggest exceeding C$1 billion in capitalization and accounting for the majority of overall market value.
The CSA said that among potential options in Canada would be to maintain the current approach with some tweaks, introducing issuer-specific criteria to determine issuer status, or requiring mandatory graduation for Canada's smaller venture exchanges when companies exceed size thresholds.
The regulatory body said it has received feedback indicating the cost of compliance for some smaller venture issuers to provide financial statements may have become disproportionate to the benefits to investors. The CSA is seeking input on whether a subset of venture issuers could be exempted from certain aspects of International Financial Reporting Standards.
Among other changes, the CSA also is looking for comment on strict rules regarding disclosing any material changes to a company, which currently must be made within 10 days of the change occurring, with only limited exceptions. At times, though such changes have already been announced in a press release, creating duplication. The CSA said many smaller issuers file material change reports for all news releases, either out of caution or for promotional purposes, which can dilute the "signaling" a material change report is meant to offer the market.
The CSA said it has also heard that there is broader uncertainty regarding what types of events should be considered material changes, where as in the U.S. certain events always trigger the filing of Form 8-K, including entering or scrapping dealmaking, completing and acquisition or asset sale, and the appointment or resignation of certain executive officers.
The consultation paper will be open for a 120-day comment period.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at [robb.stewart@wsj.com]
Expected Major Events for Friday
08:30/UK: Jun Monthly Insolvency statistics
09:00/ITA: May Balance of Payments
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
July 16, 2026 16:31 ET (20:31 GMT)
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