HEADLINES

Producer Prices Rose in July, Buoyed by Gas and Diesel

Canadian manufactured goods prices rose again last month, driven higher by a jump in fuel costs with a resumption of the conflict in the Middle East, though a drop in crude oil prices early in July helped drive down manufacturers' raw material costs.

Statistics Canada's industrial product price index increased 0.6% in July from the month before. Compared with a year earlier, prices were 12.4% higher.

Cost pressures have remained elevated since the start of the Iran conflict. Product prices have risen in six of the last seven months, after slipping 0.6% in June, as energy prices fell following a tentative peace deal between the U.S. and Iran improved prospects for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key corridor for crude oil in the region.

Trade Official Says Tariff Deal With U.S. 'Very Close'

Canada's minister in charge of U.S. trade said Ottawa and Washington are "very close" to finalizing an agreement.

Dominic LeBlanc made the remarks to Canadian reporters Thursday in Washington, following a roughly three-hour meeting with senior trade officials in the Trump administration.

"We continue to make progress, and we're going to stay here and do the work that's necessary until we get to that point," LeBlanc said in a brief statement.

Both Canadian and U.S. officials have signaled that the contours of a tentative trade agreement are in place. The pact would halve the level of U.S. tariffs on Canadian-made steel and aluminum, and lower the duty on automobiles from America's northern neighbor, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. Failure to clinch a deal would result in the Trump administration imposing a 50% tariff on about $20 billion in Canadian imports, as early as Saturday.

Thomson Reuters Taps Former Disruptor Anthropic for AI Legal Platform

Thomson Reuters has launched the next generation of its CoCounsel Legal platform, adding agentic artificial intelligence capabilities to automate complex litigation workflows.

Built on Anthropic's Claude agent software development kit, or SDK, and integrated with Thomson Reuters' Westlaw and Practical Law, the updated suite introduces Westlaw Brief Builder, a tool that guides litigators from initial research to first-draft briefs.

The integration comes after Thomson Reuters shares suffered a steep 16% single-day drop in February when Anthropic announced the debut of its own legal plugins for its AI platform Claude, sparking fears that standalone AI models could dislodge legacy software providers.

AtkinsRealis Gets $35 Million Contract to Continue Supporting North Carolina Traffic Operations

AtkinsRealis landed a three-year, $35 million contract to support the North Carolina Department of Transportation's statewide traffic operations.

The Canadian engineering company said it will staff, operate and maintain the department's statewide transportation operations center and five regional traffic management centers.

The work includes providing statewide traffic management, incident coordination, traveler information, training, data analytics and other support.

AtkinsRealis has helped manage operations for the North Carolina Department of Transportation since 2012.

Aurinia Shares Gains After Settling Patent Lawsuit With Teva

Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals rose after the company entered a settlement agreement with Teva Pharmaceuticals to resolve a patent infringement lawsuit it filed against Teva.

The stock rose 6.8% to $17.27.

Under the terms of the settlement, Teva stipulated that Aurinia's patents for its flagship drug Lupkynis, which expire in 2037, are enforceable, and would be infringed if Teva sold a generic version of the drug in the U.S., Aurinia said.

Under the settlement, Teva can't launch its generic voclosporin product earlier than Dec. 7, 2036. Teva's ability to market its generic voclosporin product in the U.S. also would depend on obtaining approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Tilray Brands Boosts Quebec, Portugal Cultivation Output for International Medical Markets

Tilray Brands is expanding its global cannabis cultivation to meet accelerating international demand for medical cannabis across Europe and Australia.

The cannabis and consumer packaged goods company on Thursday said that it has increased annual cultivation capacity to about 275 metric tons, up from 210 tons.

The production push connects increased output at Tilray's Quebec facility, which is targeted for EU-GMP quality certification within 12 months, with its primary European hub in Portugal.

EU-GMP, which stands for European Union Good Manufacturing Practice is a set or rules and standards that medicine makers must follow to ensure safety and production consistency. Obtaining EU-GMP status for its Quebec site allows Tilray to produce medical cannabis to globally recognized pharmaceutical standards.

Clarke Gets TSX Green Light to Renew Buyback Program for 5% of Public Float

Clarke intends to renew its share repurchase program for the upcoming year to buy back up to 5% of its common shares.

The real estate company on Thursday said that the Toronto Stock Exchange has approved its plan to renew its normal course issuer bid to buy back up to 772,948 shares for cancellation.

Clarke's buyback program opens Aug. 24 and will run until Aug. 23, 2027.

Organigram Fast-Tracks Sanity Group Integration, Names New C-Suite Leaders

Organigram Global is fast tracking the full integration of Germany's Sanity Group, and appointing Sanity Co-Founder Finn Age Hansel as chief strategy officer and Adrian Frenzel as global chief operating officer.

The structural shift replaces a 12-month standalone trial period with an immediate operational merger which will link Organigram's Canadian cultivation capabilities directly with Sanity's European distribution footprint.

"Since completing the acquisition, our teams have worked exceptionally well together and we have seen firsthand the strength of Sanity's business and the opportunities across our combined platform," said Organigram Chief Executive James Yamanaka.

The companies have agreed to fix the remaining earnout at 20 million euros ($23.4 million) in cash and roughly 76 million euros payable in Organigram shares in 2027.

Decibel Cannabis Shares Rise on Rosier FY Outlook, 2Q Beats

Decibel Cannabis shares jumped Thursday morning after the company raised its outlook for the year following better-than-expected performance in the second quarter.

Shares rose 8.7% to C$0.13.

The cannabis company now expects revenue in the range of C$132 million to C$137 million, up from C$130 million to C$135 million it previously guided for.

The company also increased its expectations for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Decibel expects C$28 million to C$32 million, up C$1 million at each end.

Revenue surged by 19% to C$35.6 million, topping its own expectations for the quarter, which was for revenue of C$33 million to C$35 million. Analysts expected C$34.3 million.

TALKING POINT

AI Adoption Poses Headwind in Finding Jobs, Bank of Canada Research Says

By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--Unemployed workers in Canada have had a more trying experience finding jobs in sectors highly exposed to the use of artificial intelligence, according to new research published by the Bank of Canada.

The analysis adds that younger Canadians are more at risk from the labor-market changes tied to AI.

The Bank of Canada said Thursday its research should be interpreted as early trends emerging from AI's wider adoption. The research is "not definitive about what is happening or will happen, because the future of AI is highly uncertain."

In speeches, Bank of Canada officials have encouraged the country's firms to invest in AI as a way to improve the country's lackluster productivity. "We do anticipate that some jobs will be replaced by AI. New jobs will emerge, and others will be transformed. We are monitoring the job market data closely for signs of these changes," Michelle Alexopoulos, a central bank deputy governor, said in May remarks.

The central bank said the research published Thursday was produced independently from the Bank of Canada's governing council, or the group of senior policymakers tasked with setting interest-rate policy.

The research indicated that job seekers may be finding it more difficult than it was in 2019 to secure employment in occupations that are now the most exposed to AI. Based on its modeling, the central bank paper estimated that one-third of jobs may undergo substantial changes due to AI integration.

Among the most exposed occupations, according to the central bank, are travel agents, payroll and accounting, banking and insurance clerks, and customer-service representatives. Among the least exposed are nursing, electricians, dentists and massage therapists.

Initial signals suggest that labor-force adjustments fueled by AI adoption "may show up first through slower hiring - a lower-job finding rate - rather than more people leaving jobs," the authors said. Official Canadian data indicate that the country's job-finding rate -- or share of unemployed people able to secure employment from one month to the next is in the 20% range, or below the pre-Covid-19 pandemic average of 26.6% from 2017 to 2019.

The modeling added that, in Canada, there is a decline over time in finding work in highly exposed AI jobs relative to occupations with low exposure to AI.

The central bank research said a sizable share of young workers tend to be employed in sectors with high-AI exposure. Overall, the research said, "this suggests that young workers may face higher AI-related labour market risks than older workers."