Canada’s unemployment rate rises, OMERS sells LifeLabs and Ottawa approves Glencore’s Teck coal deal: Must-read business and investing stories

Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of the Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more.

Canada’s rising unemployment rate pushes case for July rate cut

Canada’s unemployment rate hit its highest level in two years in June, according to Statistics Canada. The unemployment rate came in at 6.4 per cent for the month of June, up from 6.2 per cent in May. The jobs report bolsters the case for Bank of Canada to continue cutting interest rates this month. As of Friday morning, money markets increased bets of a July rate cut to around 56 per cent from 40 per cent a day earlier. The latest data continues a trend of frustration for many Canadians struggling to get jobs in the face of high interest rates and layoffs. It has been an especially tough time for young people looking for summer jobs, Dave McGinn and Pippa Norman report.

OMERS sells LifeLabs to U.S.-based Quest Diagnostics for $1.35-billion

One of Canada’s biggest pension funds is selling LifeLabs, the country’s largest medical-testing company, to U.S.-based Quest Diagnostics Inc. for $1.35-billion including debt, James Bradshaw reports. The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, which has owned LifeLabs for more than 17 years, put the company up for sale in January. The two leading contenders were Quest and Vaughan, Ont.-based Andlauer Healthcare Group. Quest emerged as the front-runner after a six-month auction, outbidding Andlauer by $100-million. Once the deal closes, LifeLabs will keep its brand, its Canadian headquarters and its management team. It will also continue to store patients’ health data in Canada. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Decoder: Toronto is barely outbuilding Edmonton for new rental homes

Canada is undergoing a once-in-a-generation boom in rental housing construction that should eventually help renters faced with a dearth of vacancies and soaring rental rates. Not all parts of the country are building at the same speed, and Canada’s largest city risks falling behind. For example, Toronto has only 1,200 more new rental starts than in Edmonton – despite having a population that is 4.4 times larger. High interest rates and rising construction costs are behind part of that trend. Jason Kirby takes a closer look at the data in this week’s Decoder.

Ottawa approves Glencore takeover of Teck’s coal business with stringent conditions

The federal government has approved Glencore PLC’s acquisition of Teck Resources Ltd.’s metallurgical coal business with stringent conditions, Niall McGee reports. It’s a surprising move considering that Ottawa has stepped in over the past few years to prevent deals involving the foreign acquisition of Canadian mining companies. Federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said that he had been reviewing the deal on both a net-benefit and national-security basis over the past eight months. Among the conditions are that the coal business must retain a Canadian head office in Vancouver and have a majority of Canadian directors – for at least the next 10 years.

Streaming giants launch multiple legal challenges to Bill C-11 payments in Canada

Foreign streaming platforms – including Netflix, Amazon and Spotify – have launched court challenges over the implementation of measures under Ottawa’s Online Streaming Act, Marie Woolf reports. The Motion Picture Association’s Canadian affiliate, which represents Hollywood studios such as Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery, launched dual legal challenges in Federal Court to decisions by Canada’s broadcasting regulator, which is implementing the act, also known as Bill C-11. The challenges threaten to delay the implementation of the act, which would compel foreign streaming giants to pay about $200-million a year to support Canadian music, TV, film and radio. Music streaming platforms Amazon, Apple and Spotify also filed legal challenges in Federal Court over the CRTC’s decision.

How the decades-long trend of companies staying private for longer is hurting Canada’s productivity

Historically, private and public markets have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship in Canada. Private investors help bring startups to the point where they can go public, that private money gets an exit and startups are able to keep growing. Jameson Berkow casts a light on how that relationship is breaking down as companies stay private for longer or make the decision to sell from one private investor to another – and how average Canadians are being robbed of the opportunity to participate in their own homegrown success stories.