March will begin with a relatively light week for scheduled economic announcements out of Canada. Last Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney landed in India to talk trade and rebuild the two countries’ relationship. He is then heading to Australia and Japan. Global trade uncertainty lingers after the US Supreme Court voted against US President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose “Liberation Day” tariffs. In response, a new baseline 10% tariff was put into place, which went into effect last Tuesday. Besides development in trade, here’s what to watch for this week.

• Canada’s manufacturing activity in February will be announced today. Canada’s manufacturing sector expanded in January, which was its first month of growth since January 2025. Output stabilized, which helped lift employment.
• In the US, key data releases include employment change at private businesses on Wednesday and retail sales on Friday. Retail sales stalled in December after a strong November, when holiday shopping benefited from Black Friday deals.
• The US labour market will come into the spotlight on Friday when non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate for February are announced.
• Looking abroad, Europe’s inflation rate will be announced on Tuesday, China’s manufacturing sector activity on Tuesday night and the final estimate of European economic growth on Friday. In China, the National People’s Congress will kick off this week.
• Notable earnings in Canada include Alimentation Couche-Tard, George Weston, NuVista Energy, Canadian Natural Resources and AltaGas. Key earnings in the US include Best Buy, Target and Costco.

As we begin March, Canadian equity markets have delivered a positive return over the first two months of 2026. While Canada’s economic activity remains relatively stable, despite contracting in the fourth quarter of 2025, uncertainty looms given ongoing trade disruptions with the US and the upcoming review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. Carney continues to travel the world looking to diversify trade and improve Canada’s economic ties.

If you would like to discuss this economic and market update or have questions about your finances and investments, please feel free to contact me anytime.