Finance & Capital Management

Canadian manufacturing sales posted their biggest percentage drop since the financial crisis in March and economists warned sales are expected to continue to fall in April as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the economy to a crawl.Royal Bank senior economist Nathan Janzen said Thursday that the economic data will also likely get significantly worse in April with containment measures in place for the entire month.“Beyond that, we could see some improvement in May already with social/distancing measures easing in spots, but the drop in activity in March and April is still likely to be staggering, and entirely unprecedented in modern measured economic data,'' Janzen wrote in a brief note.Statistics Canada reported Thursday manufacturing sales fell 9.2% to $50.8 billion in March, the lowest level since June 2016, as factories shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic or faced sharply lower demand.The average estimate by economists was for a drop of 5.7%, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.In volumes terms, manufacturing sales fell 8.3%.Sales fell in 17 of 21 industries led by the transportation equipment industry which plunged 26.5% in March as Canadian auto assembly plants and several parts suppliers in North America cut production.

Conagra Brands is to provide an additional US$7 million in cash bonuses to eligible employees at each of the company's 50 production and distribution facilities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.To date, the company has committed more than US$13 million in special bonuses for front-line employees working during the pandemic."On behalf of the senior management team, I'd like to extend my deepest appreciation and thanks to our employees for their refuse-to-lose attitude in continuing to work safely and effectively to deliver our products to customers, consumers and our communities during this unprecedented time," Sean Connolly, president and chief executive officer at Conagra Brands, said in a release.

As COVID-19 reduces access to food and other essential goods for Canadians, PepsiCo Canada and the company’s philanthropic arm, The PepsiCo Foundation, is launching a number of community-based initiatives.With COVID-19 wreaking havoc everywhere, the devastation looms large on the country's food banks, where stocks are down and demand is way up.

In a statement outlining its business stance in the wake of COVID-19, Alimentation Couche-Tard says it is adhering to a clear set of guiding principles as its business navigates the COVID-19 outbreak.“During these troubled times, Couche-Tard is committed to being part of the solution in the communities where we work and live.

Bill Pratt hasn't paid some $70,000 in rent for his restaurants in Atlantic Canada since April after having to shutter operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and experiencing a “critical” sales drop.

Canada is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of oil and the third-largest repository of proven reserves of which 96% come from Alberta’s oil sands.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced May 5 more than $77 million to help keep workers in the food-processing industry safe.The news comes as a Cargill meat-packing plant in High River, Alta., south of Calgary, reopened Monday after a two-week shutdown due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

CALGARY - Consumer demand for fuel is growing slightly after a sudden decline due to measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic but the CEO of Suncor Energy Inc.