The story: Mark Carney’s Liberal government won three by-elections on Monday, cementing a majority in the House of Commons for the first time since 2019. While Carney’s approval numbers remain high (a March report from Leger indicates 61% approval of his performance), the economic picture is murkier: unemployment is sitting at 6.7%, the GDP decreased in the fourth quarter of 2025, and Canada lost 109,000 jobs in January and February (but gained back 14,000 in March, so hey, not all bad).
Why it matters: Change takes time, even with a majority government, and Carney doesn’t even have a full year in office yet. But his opposition to Donald Trump has been doing a lot of heavy lifting for his popularity. Before, the minority government could be used as cover for a slow start, but now, there are no more excuses.
What this means…
- For investors: Stability at last? The ability to plan ahead without a looming election threat stands to benefit the Canadian dollar and domestic markets – at least, that's according to Derek Holt, Scotiabank's head of capital markets economics.
- For the Opposition: It’s not looking good. The Guardian even went so far as to describe Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as a “political dead person.” Ouch.
Bottom line: We’ve not had a majority government since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now Carney has the numbers he needs to actually get things done. Canadians will start demanding actual results sooner rather than later.
$19 billion
Context: That’s Russia’s oil revenue in March alone, nearly $10 billion more than February.
What it actually means: The war in Iran is the chief driver of Russia's windfall – before the conflict broke out, Russia's oil and gas revenues were 44% lower year-over-year. Canadian energy stocks have broadly outperformed this year as well, but higher oil prices could raise the risk of inflation and prompt interest rate hikes.
Toronto's robo-taxi problem isn't about safety
The Situation: Waymo, the Google-owned, California-based company is looking to bring its fleet of robo-taxis to Toronto.
Everyone's asking: Are driverless taxis safe?
The better question: What happens to the roughly 83,000 taxis and ride-share drivers when Waymo arrives?
Why it matters: The Ontario government's automated vehicle pilot program talks a big game about safety and tech sector jobs, but says nothing about the drivers who could be displaced. The City's own 2024 report found the median ride-share driver already nets just $5.97 an hour after expenses – well below minimum wage – and nationally, over 70% of those workers are from racialized communities, while more than half are landed immigrants.
