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Consumers are being squeezed by affordability challenges this Black Friday, but people still plan to spend on the annual sales day.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press

Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s business and investing news quiz. Join us each week to test your knowledge of the stories making headlines. Our business reporters come up with the questions, and you can show us what you know. Take our business and investing news quiz.

This week: Ottawa and Alberta struck a new energy deal, Black Friday sales set up a test of Buy Canadian sentiment, and “bubble” concerns were brewing about a blockbuster industry and its key players.


1The federal government announced additional support for which tariff-hit industries this week?
a. Manufacturing and aluminum
b. Canola and steel
c. Steel and lumber
d. Autos and lumber

c. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced further limits on steel imports to support domestic producers, and more money for lumber mills.

2Former finance minister Bill Morneau visited which Canadian university to speak with students about the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project he once championed?
a. University of Toronto
b. Western University
c. Toronto Metropolitan University
d. University of British Columbia

b. Western University. Mr. Morneau visited a classroom of Western University business students as part of a course called Navigating Change – Lessons from CEOs Managing Strategic Transformation in Uncertain Times, which invites Canadian business leaders to speak with potential future CEOs about key decisions from their careers.

3How many former international students have visas that are set to expire on Dec. 31 of this year?
a. 31,610
b. 52,670
c. 11,890
d. 115,789

a. 31,610. There were 31,610 people with valid postgraduate work permits in Canada as of Sept. 30, and those visas will expire by Dec. 31, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Economists aren’t sure what will happen next, and some temporary residents may stay in the country after Dec. 31, adding to Canada’s undocumented population.

4Canadian consumers and businesses are facing affordability challenges, and Black Friday sales will test shoppers’ commitment to the Buy Canadian movement. Survey data released by BDC estimated that Canadian households plan to spend how much on holiday shopping this year?
a. $1,000
b. $670
c. $943
d. $1,067

c. $943. BDC surveyed 1,500 Canadian adults aged 18 years or older between Nov. 12 to 16. Nearly 60 per cent of planned holiday spending money was set aside for Canadian products and services, which BDC estimated could add up to $11-billion to Canada’s GDP.

5Which auto company failed to appear before a parliamentary committee in Ottawa this week to discuss a federal funding agreement?
a. Toyota
b. Honda
c. General Motors
d. Stellantis

d. Stellantis. MPs were seeking reasons for the automaker’s plans to move Jeep Compass production to Illinois from Brampton, and an accounting of federal and provincial funding agreements to support retooling – but no one from Stellantis was present on Parliament Hill and technical difficulties prevented a video appearance, to the frustration of politicians.

6U.S. hospitality businesses Kasa, Inc. and Lark told The Globe and Mail that they are eyeing possibly taking over Canadian properties owned by short-term rental company Sonder, which abruptly folded earlier this month. Which Canadian cities did Sonder operate in?
a. Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa
b. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa
c. Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver and Toronto
d. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Victoria

b. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa. Guests and employees were blindsided when Sonder abruptly ceased operations. Kasa, Inc. and Lark are now actively pursuing options to take over the rental properties in Canadian cities and potentially bringing back former staff.

7Ottawa and Alberta signed a new energy accord on Thursday, which includes the suspension of clean energy regulations in exchange for the province increasing its industrial carbon price. What will Alberta’s industrial carbon price rise to under the new agreement?
a. $130 per tonne
b. $67 per tonne
c. $110 per tonne
d. $95 per tonne

a. $130 per tonne. The commitment to increase the industrial carbon price marks a policy reversal for Alberta, after the government froze the price at $95 per tonne in May. Both levels of government have now committed to a new pricing agreement by April 1 that will ramp up Alberta’s price, but there is no set date for reaching that number.

8Famed investor Michael Burry, featured in The Big Short, took aim at which industry this week, where he claims a financial bubble could be brewing?
a. Real estate
b. Renewable energy
c. Artificial intelligence
d. Cryptocurrency

c. Artificial intelligence. Mr. Burry responded in a Substack post after Nvidia, the world’s most profitable company, reportedly circulated a memo on Wall Street rebutting some of Mr. Burry’s claims about questionable accounting practices in the AI industry.

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