Business & Economy

Bank of Canada warns in report of business, household debt from COVID-19

OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada says there are signs in the country's financial markets that suggest concern about the ability of companies to weather the COVID-19 economic crisis. The central bank has sp...

May 14, 2020

Renovations taking centre stage for local businesses during pandemic

MEDICINE HAT, AB - For months, restaurant and bar owners in Medicine Hat have looked at empty tables and chairs wondering what the future of their businesses would look like.In all that uncertainty, s...

May 13, 2020

Cargill beef plant to reopen next week after COVID-19 outbreak forced closure

CALGARY - Workers are to return Monday to a beef processing plant south of Calgary that was closed for two weeks because of a COVID-19 outbreak. Cargill says its High River facility will restart ...

Apr 29, 2020

Small business owners paying $100 bill forward to support local industry

MEDICINE HAT, AB - It all began with a simple $100 bill, nothing out of the ordinary or too special.Over just a couple of weeks however, that banknote has inspired small business owners across Medicin...

Apr 24, 2020 Madhatter Roastery passing along the $100 bill to Local Eatery earlier this month (Photo courtesy of Madhatter Roastery / Facebook)

Preventive measures at Alberta meat plants came too late to stop outbreaks

CALGARY - The rapid spread of COVID-19 at Canada's meat-packing plants isn't a surprise, say union and health officials. Fabian Murphy, president of the Agriculture Union, which represents federal mea...

Apr 23, 2020

Federal oilpatch bailout focus on cleanup of abandoned wells, reduced emissions

Observers say the federal government's multibillion-dollar oilpatch bailout package announced Friday should come with strings attached. "(Money) should be tied to regulatory change in Albert...

Apr 17, 2020

Bank of Canada keeps key interest rate target on hold at 0.25%

OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada is keeping its key interest rate target on hold at 0.25 per cent, saying this morning that it is effectively as low as it can go to combat the economic impacts of COVID-19....

Apr 15, 2020 Canadian Press

Medicine Hat's unemployment rate bucking provincial, national trend

MEDICINE HAT, AB - Alberta as a whole has shed nearly 40,000 jobs last month compared to March 2019 but the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region is bucking the trend with job growth over the same period, ac...

Apr 09, 2020

Canada lost 1,011,000 jobs in March, unemployment rate up to 7.8%

OTTAWA - Statistics Canada reports the economy lost 1,011,000 jobs in March as the COVID-19 crisis began to take hold, which lifts the unemployment rate up to 7.8 per cent. The 2.2 per cent increase i...

Apr 09, 2020 Canadian Press

Chamber here to help navigate COVID-19 relief programs

MEDICINE HAT, AB - With a dizzying array of COVID-19 relief programs for businesses out there, it's hard to keep track of just who is available for what and when."It's been challenging to navigate bec...

Apr 01, 2020