Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week

TORONTO – Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

IT security eventThe Sector IT security conference kicks off on Monday in Toronto. Experts will discuss malware, ransomware attacks and Canada’s role in the global security market.

Housing startsCanada Mortgage and Housing Corp. will release preliminary housing start data for September on Tuesday. CMHC recently said the pace of new housing starts in August climbed 1.9 per cent compared with July as the housing market rebounded from its recent slowdown.

Renewables conference
The Canadian Wind Energy Association will hold its 35th annual CanWEA conference and exhibition in Calgary on Tuesday. Renewable energy sources are contributing more and more to Canada’s power grids, with Nova Scotia Power reporting in June that 30 per cent of the electricity it produced in 2018 came from renewables such as wind power.

Pot prices
StatCan will release crowd-sourced cannabis prices for the third quarter on Wednesday. The agency reported in July that the average cost of a gram of cannabis from the illicit market continues to drop as legal prices rise, with legal weed costing $10.65 compared to the black market price of $5.93.

Jobs numbers
Statistics Canada will release its Labour force survey for September on Friday. The agency previously reported that Canada’s economy posted a job surge of 81,100 net new positions in August, while the unemployment rate stayed at 5.7 per cent as more people looked for work.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2019.