HEADLINES

Inflation Held at 3% in August

Canadian inflation steadied last month as rising travel costs and a rebound in rents countered a softer jump in gasoline prices.

The consumer-price index slipped 0.1% in August, holding the annual rate of inflation at 3%, Statistics Canada said.

The pace was in line with what economists were expecting after inflation the month before accelerated to the top end of the 1%-to-3% window the Bank of Canada aims for.

Core CPI Strengthening But From Very Low Levels

Royal Bank of Canada Expects Four Rate Hikes From BOC in 2027

Factory Sales Dropped 0.4% in July, First Fall in Six Months

Canadian manufacturing activity retreated in July, denting a run of improving sales in recent months.

The value of factory shipments declined 0.4% from the month before to a seasonally adjusted C$78.71 billion, Statistics Canada said. However, compared with a year earlier, manufacturing sales in July were 10.9% higher.

The monthly drop, which was sharper than the data agency's advance estimate for monthly decline of 0.2%, marks the first decline in trade in six months.

Sales in volume terms were down 1.4% for the month and up a modest 0.4% on a year prior.

TD Bank Mobilizes C$150 Billion Commitment to Fuel Canada's Infrastructure, Industrial Supercycle

Toronto-Dominion Bank has launched a commitment of C$150 billion to accelerate Canada's industrial and infrastructure buildout.

The five-year pledge will deploy capital through new lending, underwriting and advisory activities. It comes alongside research from TD Economics estimating that overall Canadian nation-building capital investments across 300 major projects could reach between C$1 trillion to C$1.7 trillion by 2035.

TD's commitments target five key sectors in what the bank sees as poised to enter an investment supercycle: energy, critical minerals, defense and aerospace, digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, and infrastructure, including major trade and transport corridors.

TransAlta Ordered by U.S. Government to Keep Washington Coal Unit Online for 90 More Days

TransAlta has received another order from the U.S. Department of Energy to keep Washington state's last coal-fired power plant operational for an additional 90 days.

The Calgary, Alberta-based power generator said Monday that its subsidiary TransAlta Centralia Generation received the order from federal regulators mandating that Unit 2 of its Centralia Generating Station remain available to support the grid.

The station is now ordered to remain available for operations until Dec. 12.

Cineplex Posts Record August Box Office on The Odyssey, Spider-Man Demand

Cineplex generated its highest box office performance in its history as the dual hits of The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day sent moviegoers in droves to the big screens.

The Canadian movie theater chain reported August box office revenue of C$98 million, up from C$49.1 million a year earlier.

Cineplex calls this summer's record the strongest of the company's history thanks to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the second highest-grossing release for the company, as well as The Odyssey, where customers flocked to high-margin premium formats such as IMAX 70mm, accounting for 54% of total box office revenue in August.

Box Office Bodes Well for Profit, Free Cash Flow Growth

Sherritt Intl Warns on Going Concern, in Talks to Restructure Debt

Sherritt International said that its ability to continue as a going concern remains uncertain as it scrambles to secure interim financing.

The Canadian miner has been operating under liquidity constraints after a U.S. executive order in May added greater sanctions against companies operating in Cuba. The company has also shut down its metals refining operations in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.

Sherritt said the executive order triggered an event of default under its revolving credit facility that risks accelerating debt build-up. Sherritt noted that the accelerated pace of building up indebtedness would entitle holders of at least one quarter of the company's outstanding senior secured notes to be immediately due and payable.

TALKING POINT

Canada Still Needs to Remove Regulatory Roadblocks, Capital Power CEO Says

By Emma Graney of the Globe and Mail

Transforming the enthusiasm of business and political leaders into final investment decisions will be the real challenge at the Canada Investment Summit this week in Toronto, says Capital Power chief executive officer Avik Dey.

Prime Minister Mark Carney first announced plans for the summit in April, saying it will focus on attracting new investment from domestic and global players for nation-building projects. It is part of his stated effort to broaden Canada's economic ties in order to reduce its dependence on trade with the United States.

The business community is on board with that ambition and committed to big projects, but catalyzing it into final investment decisions and shovels in the ground means busting through Canada's multiple layers of bureaucracy and regulation, Mr. Dey told The Globe on Monday.

Ottawa's Major Projects Office goes some way toward doing that, but lacks the teeth to say, "These are the projects we're supporting, and here's how we're going to push them through to approval," he said.

Mr. Dey spent Sunday evening at an invite-only reception at the Royal Ontario Museum. There, nearly 500 guests from sectors such as banking, mining, pension funds and technology rubbed shoulders with federal and provincial politicians ahead of the summit.

He described the event as something of a "rallying cry;" a chance to say, "Let's put our game face on, and let's not lose this opportunity" to get major projects built.

"I've been in finance and energy my entire career, working around the globe, and I've never seen a room like that assembled last night of Canadian business leaders, policymakers, the federal government," Mr. Dey said.

"It was very inspiring as a Canadian to be in that room."

Mr. Dey comes to the event in something of a unique position. When he meets with investors, he'll be tapping his experience on their side of the table from when he worked in private equity and pension investments.

He expects conversations between CEOs and global investors will outline not just potential projects, but the benefits of being in Canada; namely, the country's security of law, proximity to markets and a regulatory body that, "if you can navigate it, gives you security of outcomes."

Officials organizing the Canada Investment Summit identified more than 160 projects in various stages of development that are open for investment, including a proposed $10.9-billion high-speed rail link between Edmonton and Calgary and a planned $57-billion Port of Churchill expansion project.

Capital Power was on that list for a proposed US$2-billion to US$6-billion expansion of its Genesee electricity generation station site near Edmonton. The project would make the site a "major power generation and energy storage hub capable of supporting large industrial and data centre demand."

The 66-page "prospectus" booklet, shared with summit attendees ahead of the event, was framed as "a snapshot of the diverse opportunities available across multiple asset classes, sectors and stages of development."

Yet the next two days are "just the tip of the iceberg," Mr. Dey said.

Global investors will be in Toronto "excited and ready" about major projects, he said. "But the deliverability of them is going to be on us."

Expected Major Events for Tuesday

04:30/JPN: Jul Tertiary Industry Index

04:30/JPN: Jul Revised Retail Sales

06:00/GER: Aug WPI

06:00/UK: Aug UK monthly unemployment figures

06:45/FRA: Aug CPI

08:00/ITA: Jul Foreign Trade EU

09:05/GER: Sep ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment

12:30/CAN: Jul Wholesale trade

12:30/US: Sep Empire State Manufacturing Survey

12:30/CAN: Jul New motor vehicle sales

12:55/US: 09/12 Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index

20:30/US: API Weekly Statistical Bulletin

23:50/JPN: Aug Provisional Trade Statistics for the Month

23:50/JPN: Jul Orders Received for Machinery

All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

Expected Earnings for Tuesday AnaptysBio Inc $(ANAB)$ is expected to report $-0.05 for 2Q.

Evolution Petroleum Corp (EPM) is expected to report $0.01 for 4Q.

Forgent Power Solutions Inc (FPS) is expected to report for 4Q.

Mega Matrix Inc (MPU) is expected to report for 1Q.

Rezolute Inc $(RZLT)$ is expected to report $-0.15 for 4Q.

Vera Bradley Inc (VRA) is expected to report $0.32 for 2Q.

Vicarious Surgical Inc (RBOT) is expected to report for 2Q.

Wins Finance Holdings Inc (WINSF) is expected to report for Interim.

ZenaTech Inc $(ZENA)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.