Canada

In the latest unexpected and ad hoc announcement on North American trade arrangements, the Globe and Mail reports that Trump's Commerce Secretary pick, Wilbur Ross, has informed Canadian officials that he plans to reopen NAFTA talks within days of his inauguration, and that rules of origin and independent dispute tribunals will be central in negotiations of North American Free Trade Agreement. Ross has indicated new administration will send a formal letter notifying Canada and Mexico of plans to renegotiate Nafta within days of Trump’s inauguration.

The heavy exodus of the Chinese renminbi from mainland China put pressure on the country’s economy. In an effort to stymie the outflow, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) enacted new rules that are meant to help it exert more control over its currency…and that could spell trouble for the Canadian real estate market!

A CANADIAN REAL ESTATE “BUBBLE”

As MacLean's Jason Kirby points out, the Bank has taken to YouTube to warn Canadians about the dangers of too much debt and unrealistic house price expectations. He wonders, however, whether anyone will listen as one after another real estate bubble form in Canada, a nation whose household debt ratio has never been higher.

As BMO pointed out, when the latest household debt ratio data was released, the upward trend in household debt goes back for the 26 years for which it has records and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Radioactive salmon due to Fukushima contamination has been discovered in British Columbia, Canada, by a team of research scientists from the University of Victoria.  Seaborne Cesium 123,  which is thought to be an indicator of nuclear contamination from Fukushima, was detected on the West coast of the US this month. Environews.tv reports: WHOI is a crowd-funded science seawater sampling project, that has been monitoring the radioactive plume making its way across the Pacific to America’s west coast, from the demolished Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in eastern Japan.

Leading up to the 2016 Presidential election, dozens of overconfident celebrities and political figures promised to flee to Canada if Trump emerged victorious (we noted them all here: "These Are The Celebrities Who Vowed To Leave America If Trump Wins").  Unfortunately, none of them have announced plans to follow through on those promises despite news from Canada's immigration officials that applications for political refugee status from Americans was up 5x YoY in November.