Allow total foreign ownership of domestic-only Canadian airlines: Competition Bureau report
Canada should allow up to 100 per cent foreign ownership of domestic-only airlines in a bid to lower fares and boost flight options, the Competition Bureau says in a new report highlighting the country's 'highly concentrated' aviation industry.
Article content
In a market study released Thursday, the watchdog suggested a new class of airline that operates only in Canada but has owners outside its borders, opening the gate to global expertise — and cash.
Article content
Article content
Article content
The current foreign ownership cap sits at 49 per cent, with sovereignty and national security often cited as the reason. In addition, no more than 25 per cent of a domestic carrier can be owned by any one foreign entity, a proportion the Competition Bureau proposed raising to nearly half.
Article content
Article content
'Allowing more foreign investment in Canadian airlines improves access to capital, drives growth and promotes competition,' the report said, pointing to Australia and New Zealand as places that permit full outsider ownership of in-country carriers.
Article content
'As economist Michael Porter famously put it, unless a firm is forced to compete at home, it will usually lose its competitiveness abroad,' Brad Callaghan, an associate deputy commissioner at the Competition Bureau, said during a press briefing.
Article content
Weak competition in the airline industry remains a big hurdle to lower prices and better service across the country, and remote communities especially, the report found.
Article content
Article content
'Competition in Canada's airline sector has struggled to take off,' it said, noting consumers' dissatisfaction with ticket prices, service quality and range of flight choice.
Article content
Air Canada and WestJet together account for between half and three-quarters of all domestic passengers at major airports, according to the study.
Article content
Though competition improved between 2019 and 2023 with the arrival of Flair Airlines and the expansion of Porter Airlines, market concentration remains 'extremely high' and competition from new entrants fragile, the bureau said.
Article content
'Many Canadians report that international flights are often cheaper than flights within Canada' — partly due to 'cabotage' rules prohibiting point-to-point trips within Canada by foreign airlines — it noted. The watchdog proposed working with other countries to remove foreign competition restrictions in international agreements.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
28 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘We cannot waste any time': Anand promises ‘action' and reform in foreign affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand arrives for a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA — Faced with escalating conflict in the Middle East, a collapsing global trade system and a department struggling to reform itself, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says she relishes the job of helping Canada navigate a turbulent world. In a wide-ranging interview Thursday with The Canadian Press, Anand said her experiences in both politics and academia can help her streamline Canada's approach to global issues, allowing it to pursue its interests without losing sight of its values. 'How do you ensure, when you have these large departments, that you're actually able to execute? That is the heart of government. It's the hardest thing to do,' Anand said. 'I enjoy difficult responsibilities.' She cited her time as defence minister, when she pushed the Canadian Armed Forces to address sexual misconduct and organized donations of military supplies to Ukraine's front line. Previously, as procurement minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, she pushed one of Ottawa's largest and most unwieldy departments to deliver vaccines across the country within days. Anand spoke of 'how hard it was to say, like, we gotta buy this stuff today.' 'That's kind of the same frame that I'm bringing to foreign affairs and it's super exciting,' she added. Anand said her job involves listening closely to what the foreign service says, even if she doesn't always follow its guidance. 'You have to think independently, taking into account the advice that you receive, but also ensuring that you're discharging your obligations to the Canadian public,' she said. 'I welcome the advice that my officials provide, but at the end of the day, the decisions that I make are based on an independent judgment about what is best for our country in terms of our diplomatic relationships and our foreign policy.' Much of her job, she said, involves supporting Prime Minister Mark Carney's quest to make Canada less dependent on the U.S. for trade and defence. 'We are considering every option to strengthen our collaboration with reliable trading partners and allies around the world,' she said. 'My role as foreign minister is to stand up for Canada in that process and to ensure that we are also standing up for peace, the safety of civilians and the respect for international law.' Carney has set the tone for much of Canada's foreign policy and Anand is accompanying the prime minister on a diplomatic trip to Europe next week. Canada will sign an agreement Monday in Brussels with the European Union that largely focuses on defence procurement. Carney and Anand will then head to the NATO summit in the Netherlands, where they hope to use new spending pledges from Canada and allies to keep the United States committed to collective defence. Carney's approach to foreign policy features a major tilt toward Europe and might include more outreach in Asia and Africa ahead of summits he is set to attend this fall on both continents. While his government is heeding allies' calls for a steep increase in defence spending, it's also bucking an international trend by promising not to cut foreign aid. 'We are deeply committed to multilateralism over unilateralism, to global co-operation over increased protectionism,' Anand said. 'We must showcase Canada's values in terms of peace, safety of civilians, and respect for international law. But we're at a time where we also need to strategically advance our economic interests here at home, and to ensure that we have defence and security arrangements in place for the protection of our own country.' She said her ministerial background in defence, procurement, transport and the Treasury Board — which oversees all other departments' spending — gives her a unique perspective on how governments can actually follow through on their promises. At the recent G7 summit in Alberta, she had a front-row seat as Canada's closest peers drafted statements on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to transnational repression. The summit allowed her to meet face-to-face with both representatives of Ottawa's traditional allies and officials from emerging nations with increasing clout — including her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The Carney government is moving to restore diplomatic relations with India — a controversial move, given the recent history between Ottawa and New Delhi. In 2023 and 2024, former prime minister Justin Trudeau and the RCMP said there was evidence linking agents of the Indian government to the murder of Canadian Sikh separatist activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., in June 2023. Last October, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said the police force had evidence linking Indian government officials to other crimes in Canada, including extortion, coercion and homicide. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service identified India as one of the main drivers of foreign interference in a report it released this week. Anand said Ottawa is trying to restore parts of 'a long-standing relationship that has been put on hold for the last couple of years,' while respecting the law and institutions like the RCMP. 'The global strategic environment is very volatile and we need to carefully ensure that we are respecting the foundations of our democracy,' she said. Anand was born and raised in Nova Scotia by parents who immigrated from India. As a lawyer and professor in Toronto, she focused on the field of corporate governance — on how companies can reform the way they operate. Global Affairs Canada itself is under heavy pressure to change the way it works. The department launched a reform plan in February 2024 that included an admission that it can be 'slow to react or not focused enough' when major crises erupt, and that its staffing policies aren't keeping up with its growing responsibilities and tighter budgets. Things have only grown more complex since then, with Washington cutting back on foreign aid and moving closer to a revanchist Russia, while China pitches more trade with Canada and other countries. Canada has meanwhile promised to appoint new ambassadors across Africa and to open new embassies in Fiji and Benin, while somehow containing spending across government. Canada's critics have a history of claiming it's all talk when it comes to international relations. Trudeau was frequently criticized for raising human rights issues and inserting environmental policies in trade deals while failing to meet his government's defence spending targets or supply allies with liquefied natural gas. Foreign diplomats and departmental staff describe Anand as cautious, attentive and focused on results. While she's taking some time to get thoroughly briefed, she wants to deliver a lot — and soon. 'We have so much work to do and we cannot waste any time doing it,' she said. 'I am action-oriented myself and the prime minister knows this about me. And that's why we will make a good team on the foreign affairs front.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2025. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Business Brief: Canada's great population adjustment
Good morning. A monumental economic issue in Canada that has been overshadowed by the trade war is the reshaping of Canada's immigration system. After an influx of temporary residents flooded labour markets and sent rents soaring, cuts to immigration rates are taking effect. In fact, Canada's population is now growing at the slowest pace in a decade, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic. More on that below. But first, today's headlines: Energy: Saskatchewan is extending the life of its coal-fired power plants, saying Ottawa has no jurisdiction to stop it. Rates: The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady yesterday and slowed the overall pace of expected future rate cuts in the face of the Trump administration's tariff plans Regulation: Convicted husband and wife fraudsters David and Natasha Sharpe must pay more than $27-million for their role in the Bridging Finance Inc. investment scheme, the Ontario Capital Markets Tribunal ruled For reasons that have never been entirely made sense, the Trudeau government dispensed with Canada's enviable immigration system and opened the door to a torrent of temporary workers and international students. In 2023 alone, Canada added 1.3 million people, which represented the highest rate of population growth since the 1950s. After the strains on infrastructure, housing and social services became apparent, the government set out a plan to course-correct the system. Prime Minister Mark Carney now aims to reduce immigration to 'sustainable levels' by capping the total number of temporary workers and international students at less than 5 per cent of Canada's population by the end of 2027. Those policy changes are starting to bring about some major demographic shifts. The national population was essentially flat in the first quarter, with growth of 0.05 per cent clocking in as the slowest non-pandemic reading since 2015. In a country with low birth rates that has long relied on immigration as an economic stimulant, these policy changes are bound to have some major knock-on effects throughout the Canadian economy. I discussed some of the moving parts with Robert Kavcic, senior economist at Bank of Montreal. You frame this as one of the biggest economic stories in Canada right now. Why? It's just a major policy change that touches on a lot of the issues that policymakers have been trying to figure out for a long time, like rent, inflation, affordability. Population growth is at the root of a lot of that. How much did immigration policies contribute to these problems? The population explosion we had put too much demand in a short amount of time that we couldn't match on the supply side. The rental market was extremely tight, and the minute somebody steps foot in Canada, they need a place to stay. But it takes years to actually put that supply through the pipeline. Same thing with transportation. It's very inflationary in the short run until we can build out to meet that demand. You also see Canada's productivity problems as linked, correct? I don't think it's a coincidence that as non-permanent resident inflows exploded, the productivity numbers really fell off. On an economy-wide basis, there was just more leaning on low-cost labour at the expense of capital investment. It doesn't speak to our long-standing productivity underperformance. It just made it a lot worse over the last two or three years. How much does Canada rely on immigration to shore up our economy? Very much. The labor supply pipeline that it brings in is absolutely necessary because Canadians don't really have babies anymore. It's just part of the system went off the rails. Is this a tough time to undergo such a big demographic adjustment while the Canadian economy is under such pressure? The question we got a lot is: Is the economy going to fall into recession because you're cutting population growth to zero? No, because you're taking a lot of stress off of things like service and rental inflation. That is going to allow the Bank of Canada to cut interest rates, which is a tide that lifts the whole economy. I think this actually rebalances the economy and makes it healthier. We're seeing rents come down, which is good for affordability, but is that going to deter investment in new housing units? I think so. We will see construction back off now. Toronto is probably ground zero of this where rents are falling and pre-construction activity is basically non-existent. Are there other pressure points? There are pockets of the economy that are going to feel it. Stuff like telecom subscriptions, university enrollment. It's just going to take some time to get the system back to normal. This interview has been edited for length and clarity The publicly traded company is a species in long-term decline. Since 2002, the number of operating companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange has declined by more than 40 per cent – a problem that has been masked by the boom in exchange-traded funds. Who's to blame? The big banks, according to finance professor J. Ari Pandes and Senator Colin Deacon. Pensions: The decline of the defined benefit pension has hit men hardest. Savings: For many Canadians, a rainy day looms. How to make an emergency fund work for you. Investing: Four tricks to help you keep your composure when financial markets turn ugly. Global stocks slid while investors took cover in safe havens as financial markets were on edge over the possible entry of the United States into the week-old Israel-Iran air war. TSX futures edged lower, while U.S. markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday. Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.3 per cent in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.29 per cent, Germany's DAX dropped 0.3 per cent and France's CAC 40 gave back 0.6 per cent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.02 per cent lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled almost 2 per cent. The Canadian dollar traded at 72.91 U.S. cents.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
2 No-Brainer, High-Yield Stocks to Buy With $2,000 Right Now
The S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is trading near all-time highs and has a pretty miserly 1.2% or so dividend yield. If you are an income investor, that suggests that you have your work cut out for you right now. But there are great investment options with high yields out there if you take the time to look. Two no-brainer choices today, if you have $2,000 or $20,000 to invest, are Brookfield Renewable (NYSE: BEP)(NYSE: BEPC) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). Here's what you need to know. Brookfield Renewable is positioned to grow Brookfield Renewable owns a globally diversified portfolio of clean energy assets. On the geographic front, its portfolio spans across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. On the technology front, the business has exposure to hydroelectric, solar, wind, energy storage, and nuclear power assets. It is as close to a one-stop shop as you can get in the renewable energy space. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » The interesting thing here, however, is that Brookfield Renewable is not a regulated utility. It largely sells its power under long-term contracts to others, including both companies and utilities. This actually gives it a lot of room to grow as the world increasingly shifts from carbon-based fuels toward cleaner alternatives. For example, it recently inked a deal with Microsoft to provide around 10.5 gigawatts of power that the technology giant will use to support its data center build-out. Basically, Brookfield Renewable can grow as it sees fit without having to kowtow to regulators who may put limits on its investment plans. And this brings up another interesting fact: Brookfield Renewable is run by Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM). Brookfield Asset Management has an over-100-year history of investing in infrastructure on a global scale. And it plans to increase its clean-energy investments, where Brookfield Renewable is a key source of funding, by around 100% by 2030. Buying Brookfield Renewable lets you partner with Brookfield Asset Management on that growth. There are two ways to buy in here. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a 5.6% yield. Brookfield Renewable Corporation has a 4.6% dividend yield. Both represent the exact same entity and have the exact same dividend payment. The yield difference is because demand for the corporate share class is higher, which makes sense given that large institutional investors are often barred from owning partnerships. Either way you go, Brookfield Renewable appears well positioned to expand its business as the world goes green. And you can collect a fat yield that has been regularly increased if you buy in right now. A $2,000 investment will get you 75 shares of the partnership units and 60 shares of the corporate shares. Chevron is out of favor for two reasons Chevron is a globally diversified, integrated energy giant offering an attractive 4.7% dividend yield. The dividend has been increased for an incredible 38 consecutive years. That's incredible because oil and natural gas prices tend to be highly volatile, which means that Chevron's top and bottom lines tend to be volatile, too. However, Chevron has an ace up its sleeve in the form of a strong balance sheet. A low level of leverage allows it to take on debt during industry downturns so it can continue to support its business and dividend. When oil prices recover, as they always have historically, it pays down debt in preparation for the next downturn. In addition to this rock-solid financial foundation, Chevron's diversified business also helps. With investments in energy production (the upstream), energy transportation (the midstream), and energy processing (the downstream), the peaks and valleys of oil prices get muted to some degree. That said, Chevron is out of favor right now, which has led to the lofty yield. Part of the reason for that is generally weak energy prices. Those low prices are impacting the entire energy sector. But Chevron also has some company-specific issues. First, it is attempting to buy Hess, but the process has turned out to be more complicated than hoped. Second, Chevron has investments in Venezuela, a tenuous country in which to invest. Those assets have become a bit of a political football. Neither of these things is good, but they aren't likely to derail Chevron over the long term. The currently high yield is an opportunity for investors who can think long term. You may have to suffer through some near-term lagging performance, but if you buy now, you'll get paid well for waiting around. A $2,000 investment in Chevron will get you around 13 shares. Looking for yield, start with this pair of high yielders With lofty yields, Brookfield Renewable and Chevron should both be attractive to dividend investors. But the real key to the story here is that both have strong businesses to support those dividends. If you think in decades and not days, these two high-yield stocks could be no-brainer additions to your portfolio right now. Should you invest $1,000 in Brookfield Renewable right now? Before you buy stock in Brookfield Renewable, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Brookfield Renewable wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $891,722!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to172%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025
