TORONTO -- Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:
Trucker vaccines:
Economists, manufacturers and retailers will be watching for fallout from Ottawa's vaccine mandate for truckers who cross into Canada from the United States, which went into effect Jan. 15. Critics have suggested the requirement could result in bottlenecks and potential price hikes for the flow of goods coming across the border.
Business outlook:
The Bank of Canada is scheduled to release its business outlook survey and its Canadian survey of consumer expectations on Monday. The survey comes ahead of the central bank's rate decision and monetary policy report on Jan. 26.
Housing data:
The Canadian Real Estate Association is expected to release December home sales figures on Monday, while Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is set to publish December housing starts figures on Tuesday. CREA's figures for November showed seasonally adjusted home sales rose 0.6 per cent to 54,222 in the month from 53,915 in October.
December inflation:
Statistics Canada is set to release its latest reading for inflation Wednesday with its consumer price index for December. The annual pace of inflation held steady in November as the consumer price index rose 4.7 per cent compared with a year ago.
Other data:
Statistics Canada is scheduled to release several indicators of how the economy was faring in November before the Omicron-fuelled surge in COVID-19 cases. The agency will publish figures for its monthly survey of manufacturing on Monday, wholesale trade on Wednesday and retail sales on Friday, all for November.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2022.
