Spin Master sees loss, lower revenue in holiday quarter

TORONTO - Spin Master Corp.'s busiest time of year left the business with some holiday blues — a US$184.3 million loss.

The Toronto-based toy maker behind the Paw Patrol, Hatchimals and Melissa & Doug brands announced the fourth-quarter result Thursday, saying it compared with a profit of US$21.1 million or 20 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, blamed the loss on a US$229.1-million non-cash impairment of goodwill and intangible assets and said it came as Spin Master capped "a challenging year for our U.S. toy sales."

"We navigated a difficult tariff macro environment and while we achieved many of our goals, our results did not meet our expectations we set at the beginning of the year," conceded CEO Cristina Miller on a call with analysts.

Google settles with Epic Games with offer to lower its app store commissions

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google will lower the lucrative fees imposed on its Android app store and offer a way for rival options to gain its stamp of approval, ending a bruising legal battle that led to one of several rulings condemning its tactics as an illegal monopoly.

The proposed changes filed Wednesday with a federal court in San Francisco mark the latest twist in a case that began in August 2020 when video game maker Epic Games filed an antitrust case seeking to make it easier for alternative payment options to compete against Google's Play Store system, which charges 15% to 30% commissions on a wide variety of in-app transactions.

Google's concessions come five months after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the company's attempt to overturn a federal judge's order requiring a far more extensive overhaul of the Play Store following a 2023 trial that culminated in a jury declaring the setup an illegal monopoly.

Backed into a legal corner, Google is now prepared to decrease its baseline commissions for subscriptions and e-commerce transactions into the 10% to 20% range. It's also offering an optional 5% payment processing charge that would be applied in addition to the other service fees for apps that prefer to keep everything within the Play Store.

Winnipeg School Division proposes 9.3 per cent tax increase

Manitoba’s largest school division has tabled a draft budget that raises local property taxes by upwards of nine per cent.

The Winnipeg School Division has released a $549.7-million blueprint for its 82 schools, which are attended by 32,000 children.

The plan freezes staffing at current levels, upgrades information technology systems and resumes full-day kindergarten.

“What we’re proposing is basically a stand-pat budget where we want to maintain (our roster of) teachers, EAs and clinicians, ” chief superintendent Matt Henderson told a public budget meeting on Tuesday. “With that, though, comes some pressure.”

Housing affordability challenges remain despite recent improvements: CMHC

A new analysis from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. shows housing affordability challenges have eased in recent years but still remain at historic highs, and have even spread to other major cities.

The national housing agency says affordability issues are no longer limited to Canada's largest cities and have spread to other areas such as Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. One of the key factors, CMHC said, was the impact of labour mobility brought on by remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has persisted even as the job market has changed.

"Affordability started recovering slightly since 2023, when it reached historical lows. For home ownership, we observed improved affordability, while for renters we saw stabilization over the last two years," said Mathieu Laberge, CMHC chief economist and senior vice-president of housing insights, in a news release Wednesday.

"Even with these improvements, we cannot overlook how much housing affordability has eroded in recent years, especially in Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, clearly demonstrating that Canada's housing affordability crisis is no longer limited to Toronto and Vancouver."

Police warn about AI use in sophisticated scam calls

Police warned Manitobans about the rising use of artificial intelligence to clone voices for use in phone scams, while launching a campaign Tuesday to protect seniors from fraud.

The six-month “Just Hang Up” campaign will alert seniors, their children and their caregivers about grandparent or emergency scams that have become prevalent and increasingly sophisticated.

“These scams are designed to be high pressure. They prey on the ones we love the most — our grandparents, the ones we know who are going to help us in the time of need,” Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Jennifer McKinnon said at a news conference.

Manitobans aged 60 and older reported losing almost $350,000 to grandparent or emergency scams in 2024, as reported by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. The actual total is likely much higher because scams are vastly underreported.

Tax-filing season begins today. Here’s all you need to know

Gather your tax slips and receipts because it's that time of the year. The 2025 tax-filing season officially kicks off on Monday. It will last a little over nine weeks, ending with the April 30 deadline for most taxpayers.

Big rent hikes — a made-in-Manitoba problem

Premier Wab Kinew began 2026 by capping the price of milk in a bid to make life more affordable for Manitobans.

Now, Manitobans feeling the pinch of stagnant wages and inflation won’t have to swallow cost increases with their morning bowl of cereal. This spring, the premier has an opportunity to address one of the single largest monthly household expenses paid by Manitobans: rent.

Few provinces regulate milk prices, but most Canadian jurisdictions regulate rents. In Manitoba, rent increases are allowed once a year and capped based on changes in the consumer price index. This annual rent guideline is a fair process that accounts for increased costs while protecting tenants from rent gouging.

Despite these rules, each year thousands of tenants continue to face huge rent hikes — some well over 100 per cent.

It’s the first tax season since the CRA revamped its services. Here’s what to expect

The Canada Revenue Agency says taxpayers should have an easier time this tax season, a year after it faced criticism for long wait times and, in some cases, bad advice from representatives.

Food inflation spiked 7.3% in January. Here’s what’s driving the increase

OTTAWA - Statistics Canada reported an easing in the headline inflation rate Tuesday but a jump in the pace of food inflation amid tax changes and lingering pressures at the grocery store continue to put the squeeze on consumers.

StatCan said Tuesday that the annual rate of inflation edged down to 2.3 per cent in January. Economists had expected inflation to hold steady at 2.4 per cent.

The agency said gas prices were 16.7 per cent lower year-over-year in January, largely thanks to the end of the consumer carbon price in April. Shelter inflation — long a pain for households in Canada — also fell to its lowest level in nearly five years as rent pressures abate.

Those declines helped offset food inflation, which accelerated to 7.3 per cent annually in January from 6.2 per cent a month earlier.

Food inflation expected to jump in January amid tax changes: economists

OTTAWA - Economists expect tax changes from a year ago will result in a year-over-year surge in food prices when Statistics Canada reports January inflation figures later this week.

StatCan will publish its January consumer price index report on Tuesday, a day later than originally scheduled.

The agency recently adopted a Monday publishing schedule for the consumer price index but shifted the January release to account for a regional holiday in eight provinces.

A Reuters poll of economists expects the annual rate of inflation held steady at 2.4 per cent in January, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

Affairs of heart inevitably require less romantic finance talk sooner or later — so why not today?

Valentine’s Day may be for lovers, and a chat about personal finance certainly risks dulling the passions of the day. That is unless you love money.

Yet it is a discussion that nonetheless should happen … eventually. Often sooner is better than later, hopefully, well before popping the big question.

That decisive question could be happening right now. Valentine’s Day is the premier day for couples to get engaged and that big ask (and hopefully affirmative answer) often comes with a hefty capital allocation for a sparkling speck of costly rock set in a ring made of an increasingly high-priced precious metal.

De Beers coined the notion of three months’ salary as the rule of thumb to spend on an engagement ring amid the Great Depression. At the time, diamonds weren’t common for engagement rings. Today, the world’s priciest gem is considered the norm — and the bigger the rock, the greater the profession of your love, according to the marketing.

Canada’s university funding system is broken

For decades, Canadian universities have delivered a world-class education at a remarkably accessible cost. Nationally, Manitoba has among the lowest tuition fees in the country. However, like many universities across Canada, the University of Manitoba is facing a new reality that can no longer be ignored.

Canadian Tire ordered to pay nearly $1.3 million for false advertising

MONTREAL - Canadian Tire has been ordered to pay just under $1.3 million after pleading guilty to 74 counts of violating sections of Quebec's Consumer Protection Act related to false advertising.

Crown prosecutor Jérôme Dussault says the Canadian retail giant agreed to the settlement after initially pleading not guilty.

At the Montreal courthouse, Quebec court Judge Simon Lavoie approved the agreement, which includes fines and costs ranging from $15,625 to $18,150 per count.

The case stems from a six-month investigation by the province's consumer protection office in 2021.

Ottawa to relaunch EV rebates program in 2 weeks with new auto strategy

OTTAWA - The federal government announced a suite of new electric vehicle policies Thursday, including the reintroduction of the popular rebate program and the elimination of the EV sales mandate in favour of stricter emissions standards for the auto sector.

The move is the latest rollback of climate policies enacted by former prime minister Justin Trudeau. The government of Prime Minister Mark Carney cancelled the consumer carbon price and halted the implementation of an emissions cap on the oil and gas sector.

Speaking at an auto parts manufacturer in Woodbridge, Ont., Carney said Thursday Ottawa pitched the new plan as a transformation of Canada's auto sector, which has been battered for months by U.S. tariffs.

"We have everything we need to take the lead in the vehicles of tomorrow, and we're positioning Canadian workers and businesses to seize that opportunity," he said.

LRSD says 12 per cent increase needed to avoid layoffs if provincial funding frozen

St. Vital homeowners are being warned about a “worst case scenario” property education tax hike of nearly 12 per cent.

The Louis Riel School Division laid out a range of 2026-27 budget scenarios for residents during a 90-minute meeting on Wednesday.

The event was held two weeks after the division issued a bleak warning about its finances and called on community members to lobby the province to top up its funding.

“Worst case scenario is an 11.53 per cent mill rate increase for the ratepayer,” said Jamie Rudnicki, secretary-treasurer and chief financial officer of the division in southeast Winnipeg.

Higher school taxes a preventable problem

Tens of thousands of Manitoba home and business owners face the prospect of permanent double-digit increases to the school tax portion of their property tax bills.

Why AI is poised to become Santa’s little helper this holiday

Dan Box tells ChatGPT about his kids all year long.

By the time the holidays roll around, his hope is that OpenAI's artificial intelligence-based chatbot will have gleaned enough about their hobbies and interests to identify the perfect gifts and where they're priced lowest.

"For years, I always felt stressed out by things like Christmas because I really wanted it to be great and I really wanted to buy great gifts, but it's always just so much work and time," said Box, a Vancouver-based gaming executive. "This feels easier and I like it."

The way Box is shopping is no anomaly. Consumers are increasingly turning to AI to recommend products, notify them of sales, help them make purchases and arrange deliveries.

Investment regulator funds program to help Indigenous youth manage settlement money

Sudden wealth isn’t a topic that would typically be part of a basic financial literacy course. It seems like even more of an odd fit for a new program for low-income Manitobans.

“We’ve been picking up on what people we worked with in the community have been asking about,” says Lisa Forbes, manager of social enterprise and fund development at SEED Winnipeg Inc.

Called “Sudden Wealth and Investing Basics,” the pilot is a response to what SEED has been hearing from Indigenous youth who may soon be recipients of legal settlements, she says.

These notably include a $530-million settlement to compensate children in care from 2005 to 2019 in Manitoba who had grant money unfairly clawed back and a $23-billion federal settlement over discriminatory child welfare practices and chronic underfunding.

Billie Eilish to billionaires: ‘No hate, but give your money away, shorties’

Billie Eilish wants billionaires to donate more.

As the Grammy and Oscar winner accepted the music award at this year’s WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards on Wednesday night, she urged the ultra-wealthy to address more of the world’s issues.

“We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than, kind of, ever, especially in our country,” Eilish said to an audience that included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, as well as “Star Wars” creator George Lucas. “I’d say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things, maybe give it to some people that need it.”

Late night host Stephen Colbert introduced Eilish on stage at New York’s Museum of Modern Art by announcing that she would donate $11.5 million of the proceeds from her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour to causes dedicated to food equity, climate justice and reducing carbon pollution.

Black-led non-profit developer gets federal funds for affordable housing units in north part of city

A Black-led real estate developer has become the first in Canada to secure federal funding, paving the way for 30 affordable housing units within a new 72-unit development in north Winnipeg.

Non-profit Inuka Community Inc. received $23.3 million through the Affordable Housing Fund, administered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The CMHC set aside $50 million specifically for Black-led organizations to help create more than 500 units.

The new rental complex at 1510 Main St., will include 30 one-bedroom, 30 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units. Thirty of those units, in a mix of sizes, will be designated affordable and aimed at newcomers to the city, with available supports such as debt management, credit building and driver training.

“Lots of sleepless nights to get here,” said Naomi Gichungu, Inuka’s chief executive officer.

Domestic enrolment helped U of W’s fiscal health: president

The University of Winnipeg’s financial situation has stabilized following 10 months of cutbacks on the downtown campus.

“We’re confident we’ll have a balanced budget this year, and we’re very happy about that,” said Todd Mondor, the U of W’s president and vice-chancellor.

Mondor attributed the “stable” position to a rise in domestic enrolment and “better than expected” 2025-26 registration among international students.

An influx of cash has also provided some relief, he said. The province recently topped up the school’s annual funding by $2.5 million and it was gifted $5 million from the Mastercard Foundation.

Province to reimburse Brandon school division for evacuee costs

BRANDON — The Brandon School Division will receive financial support from the province to cover the cost of hosting wildfire evacuees in its schools, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said Thursday.

“We encourage divisions to track… expenses and to be in touch with our department — many of them already have — and we will work with them to make sure that those expenses are covered,” Schmidt said.

In Brandon, 64 students from evacuated communities were enrolled in local schools on Thursday.

As a result, the division is paying for 8.5 additional substitute teachers, a bus driver and gas for a new route, and is buying extra equipment to take on the students, totalling a “rough estimate” of $100,000, the division said.

Better protection needed for urban trees

While you might have stopped and thought about the poetry of the trees that are a constant in the city of Winnipeg — big and small, sometimes healthy and other times failing, you probably haven’t thought about the value of a tree.