Headline inflation of 1.8% came in lighter than expectations, declining from January’s 2.3%…

… driven mainly by a roll-off of the GST holiday last year, which brought down Y/Y growth in the cost of food, alcohol, and toys…

… adding to the continued downward pressure from shelter inflation (mainly rent & mortgage interest). Combined with some bad labour and GDP numbers recently…

… this CPI print could have driven a cut from the BoC, which now looks unlikely given the potential inflation from Iran.

Housing starts were in-line with estimates for February, rising to 251K on a pickup in multi-unit activity…

… which showed up in core markets like Ontario, Quebec, and BC - offsetting some Y/Y weakness in Alberta.

While still elevated, unabsorbed inventory dropped for the first time in six months…

… a move that will need to persist for new unit construction to rebound.

Flagging GO REIT’s $440M of M&A, which comes after management highlighted Zohran Mamdani’s plans to freeze rents are impacting asset prices…

… creating an opportunity for well-capitalized players to transact - surprise surprise.

RFA Financial (RFA) ran 11% after announcing $340M of coming asset sales, as it continues to wind down Artis’ real estate portfolio…

… in order to fund its mortgage lending activity, the core reason the two entities merged last year. Using the math from RFA’s merger deck…

… that $340M could generate ~$65M of earnings once redeployed - ramping up to ~$280M if it can hit its five-year, $1.5B asset recycling target.

Telesat (TSAT) ran nearly 20% on a Q4 beat and military upgrade to its Lightspeed satellite constellation, which should attract another ~$1B through 2026…

… en route to global commercial service in 2028, financed in part by the cash flows from a steadily declining GEO business. That’s led to litigation…

… which the market is shrugging off for now, with TSAT notching new highs on the print.

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