(PortMetroVancouver.com)

Pacific trade pact nations meet to discuss future without U.S.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — Negotiators from the remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) gathered in Canada on Tuesday seeking ways to boost free trade in the region after the U.S. pulled out of the 12-nation pact. The withdrawal killed off years of negotiations and left the region looking for ways to deepen economic ties […] Read more

(OntLA.on.ca)

Ontario budget seeks tax flexibility for on-farm processing

Reading Time: 4 minutes The Ontario government has balanced its budget for the first time in since 2008 — but Thursday’s budget contained little news for agriculture and rural Ontario. Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget mostly highlighted agriculture programs that had already been announced, and maintains $100 million in funding for the provincial Risk Management Program, which helps offsets […] Read more



U.S. President Donald Trump speaks April 18 at Snap-on Tools’ headquarters in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Video screengrab from Whitehouse.gov)

White House readies order to quit NAFTA

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The White House is considering a draft executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the North American Free Trade Agreement, a senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday. It was unclear whether the order would be enacted by President Donald Trump, who has vowed to pull out from the U.S./Mexico/Canada trade […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Subway says it shut hundreds of U.S. restaurants last year

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — U.S. sandwich chain Subway Restaurants said on Thursday it shut 359 restaurants in the U.S. last year, amid stiff competition in a highly fragmented fast-food industry. Subway, owned by Doctor’s Associates, is the world’s largest fast-food chain by number of restaurants. It had 26,744 locations operating in the U.S. at the end of […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

FCC sees increase in Canadian farmland values slowing

Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmland values in Canada, on average, appreciated in 2016 — and while it was less of an increase than the year before, the gain easily beat a bank GIC. Land prices here in Manitoba, which have been rising steadily since 1992, on average gained 12 per cent in both 2015 and 2014. But after four […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Talks wrap on new Canadian internal trade deal

Reading Time: 3 minutes Farm groups across Canada expect a new interprovincial trade agreement to clear paths for more trade in Canadian-grown agrifood and other farmed products within the country, reducing the need for imports. Federal, provincial and territorial ministers on Friday announced they’ve concluded talks on a new Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), which on July 1 will […] Read more


A YourLink tower outside Weyburn, Sask. (YourLink.ca)

Wireless providers ordered to set up alert system

Reading Time: < 1 minute Canada’s wireless providers have until April 2018 to set up wireless public alerting systems on LTE networks. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on Thursday issued a directive to that effect to all wireless service providers. The alert system would allow emergency management officials to warn Canadians via mobile devices of “dangers to life […] Read more

Jim Pattison, shown here second from right with the Quality Foods partners, has taken majority control of the Quality Chain. (QualityFoods.com)

Pattison takes up B.C. grocery chain Quality Foods

Reading Time: 2 minutes The owner of Save-On Foods and other Canadian grocery chains will expand its overall market share on Vancouver Island with majority control of the Quality Foods chain. The Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group was announced last week as the new controlling shareholder in Quality Foods, buying up the interests of founding partners Ken Schley and John […] Read more