Here are five things you need to know this morning
Carney wants ‘serious’ talks with U.S.: Prime Minister Mark Carney says his top cabinet ministers are in contact with White House officials and want to have “serious” negotiations about trade. At a campaign stop yesterday in Halifax, Carney also said that export taxes on shipments remain an option for retaliation in an escalating Canada-U.S. trade war. U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he’ll announce import taxes on automobiles in the coming days — a move that would inflict damage on Canada’s manufacturing sector — but indicated some nations will receive breaks from next week’s so-called “reciprocal” tariffs. His comments created further confusion about his plans for a sweeping tariff announcement scheduled for April 2.
Feds halt Tesla payments: Canada has halted payments for Tesla vehicles under federal incentives for the zero-emission vehicles program in order to fully examine each claim individually and determine whether all are eligible and valid. The pause follows reports that Tesla filed an unusually high number of claims — 8,600 vehicles worth $43 million in rebates — at four Canadian dealerships ahead of a deadline for the government rebate program. Tesla is also excluded from future incentive programs “so long as the illegitimate and illegal U.S. tariffs are imposed against Canada,” according to Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Record Quebec deficit: The province of Quebec is forecasting a record $13.6 billion deficit for the next fiscal year, and is warning that the budget outlook depends on the duration and severity of the trade war with the U.S. As part of its budget presented late yesterday afternoon, the provincial government said Quebec’s economy is expected to grow at a 1.1 per cent pace this year and 1.4 per cent next year, but in a worst-case scenario, the tariff shock would cause a 0.1 per cent decrease in gross domestic product in 2025, followed by a slow recovery — just 0.5 per cent growth in 2026.
PE firms eager to shop: Alimentation Couche-Tard says private equity firms are showing strong interest in buying about 2,000 North American convenience stores that could be divested if the company succeeds in its US$49 billion bid to buy out Seven & i Holdings, the parent company of 7-Eleven. In an interview with Bloomberg News, the chief financial officer of Couche-Tard also said the company has put a termination fee on the table, adding that it would be a “painful” amount for the Laval, Quebec-based company to pay if any agreed deal falls through.
Stalled Ski-Doo: We’ll be watching shares of BRP Inc. today. The Quebec-based maker of Sea-Doos and Ski-Doos posted a steep drop in revenue in its latest quarter and also suspended its outlook for fiscal 2026. BRP says the move is due to continued trade uncertainties making it difficult to give reliable projections. The company says the uncertainty has weighed on consumer demand and sales, pulling the quarter into a loss on the bottom line. The news, however, isn’t entirely dire – revenue and adjusted profit in the quarter topped analyst estimates.
