Canadians withdrawing cash from ATMs such as this one will see new faces on their bills in the coming years.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
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.
The quiz will take a break for the holidays next week, but check back on Dec. 31 for a special end-of-year edition.
This week: As Canadians rush to get ready for the holidays, Ottawa has put a major resources takeover on the nice list – with a condition or two. And shoppers will soon be able to buy gifts with a new $5 bill. Who will be on it? Take our quiz and find out.
b. Canada’s population fell by roughly 76,000 over the third quarter, the largest decline this country has seen in records dating to the 1940s. The 0.2-per-cent decline in population is a sign that Ottawa’s moves to control immigration, after years of massive growth, have begun to work.
c. The lure of a steady government paycheque has rarely been higher. Over the past decade, 33.4 per cent of all new employment has been in the public sector. Today, public employees make up 21.7 per cent of the national work force, one of the highest levels in more than three decades.
a. Juventus’s owners quickly rejected the buyout offer, ensuring that the most successful club in Serie A history will remain controlled by Italy’s Agnelli family. Still, the offer reflects the growing ambitions of stablecoin providers such as Tether. It also underlines the growing interest among big investment firms in the European soccer scene.
b. It’s a sad end for an appliance pioneer. iRobot was struggling to keep up with lower-priced Chinese competitors. Then it was hit by U.S. tariffs of 46 per cent on goods from Vietnam, where iRobot manufactures vacuum cleaners for the U.S. market. But don’t throw your Roomba in the scrap heap just yet. The main manufacturer of iRobot’s products, China-based Picea Robotics, will now take ownership of the firm and look to, um, clean up.
d. To win approval for the takeover, Anglo promised to move its global headquarters to Vancouver from London. It also vowed to maintain Teck’s current employment levels in Canada, which means about 4,000 jobs. On top of that, it said it would invest $4.5-billion over five years in capital intensive projects, such as expanding Teck’s Highland Valley Copper mine in British Columbia.
a. Call it the Trump effect: Jose Antonio Kast has leveraged voter fears over rising crime and migration to steer Chile on its sharpest rightward shift since the end of the country’s military dictatorship in 1990. In rhetoric reminiscent of the U.S. president, he has proposed building border walls, deploying the military to high-crime areas, and deporting all illegal migrants. His victory marks the latest win for the resurgent right in Latin America.
c. Ford is pivoting away from its once-ambitious electric vehicle plans amid financial losses and waning consumer demand for the vehicles. The company intends to invest in more efficient gasoline engines and hybrid EVs.
d. U.S. President Donald Trump sued Britain's public broadcaster for defamation over edited clips of a speech that made it appear he directed supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol. His lawsuit opens an international front in his fight against media coverage he deems unfair. Because, you know, Mr. Trump is all about getting his facts straight.
c. Who said today’s stock market is giddy? U.S. medical supplies giant Medline sold a little over 216 million shares in an upsized offering. The stock then jumped 41 per cent in its first day of trading.
b. Canadians often fall into poverty just before retirement, when many are forced out of the workforce because of health issues or disability, according to the report. The survey found that people aged 55 to 64 are overrepresented among low-income Canadians.
a. Elliott Management is pushing to revive the struggling athletic apparel retailer and wants to appoint a new chief executive, a source told Reuters. The big U.S.-based hedge fund has been working closely for months with veteran retail executive Jane Nielsen, former chief financial officer and chief operations officer at Ralph Lauren.
d. A new $5 note featuring Terry Fox is in the works, according to Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem. So is a new $20 bill. It will be issued in early 2027 and feature King Charles III.