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Gas Is Still $1.81 a Litre: Why Pump Prices Won't Fall (and What to Do Before Winter)

  Canadians hoping for relief at the pump got bad news heading into this week: it isn't coming soon. The national average for regular gas was $1.81 a litre on Friday, according to Kalibrate, with provincial averages ranging from $1.557 in Alberta to $2.156 in Newfoundland, per GasBuddy. That's after a big policy move. On Friday the G7 announced plans to release 100 million barrels of oil right away, starting with diesel. Brent crude dipped on the news, then climbed back to about US$102 a barrel by the afternoon. Don't expect the release to show up at your station, because crude is only half the story. Crude oil explains only half your pump price Wood Mackenzie's Jim Mitchell says crude makes up 50 to 60 per cent of the retail price of gas. The rest is the cost of refining it, and that's where the squeeze is. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem pointed to damaged refining capacity worldwide in a Sept. 21 speech, noting that pump prices reflect crude roughly US$40 a ...

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Real Estate Receiverships on the Rise: A Consequence of Elevated Interest Rates and Construction Costs

 


According to a recent report by The Canadian Press, real estate development projects across Canada are increasingly being pushed into receivership due to elevated interest rates, construction costs and delays, and a slower real estate market. Receiverships are a way for secured lenders to have the court appoint someone to take control of the property and either liquidate it or otherwise maximize the value of the assets. While often thought of as a last resort, experts have seen an increase in receiverships as bigger construction projects with multiple mortgages and parties involved start to run into trouble.

From one of Canada’s tallest condo towers to bare tracts of land, residential development projects across the country are facing financial stress. Smaller developers are finding it hard to get more money as the second-tier lenders they often rely on become more cautious. Ontario has seen the bulk of receiverships in recent months, but over the past year, the process has been applied to everything from a historic bank building in Saint John, N.B., to a fire-plagued apartment in Winnipeg.

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