S tatistics Canada reports shows that the Canadian economy total output was down by 0.1 percent in January. The reports showed that Canada’s service sector was flat, while goods-producing industries and manufacturing sectors were down 0.4 percent. The resource sector also saw a decline of 2.7 percent with the real estate taking the hardest hit with output from agents and brokers falling 12.8 percent in January, the largest monthly decline since November 2008. New mortgage rules designed to make it harder to get a mortgage came into effect during the month, which caused buyers to rush to buy before the deadline and led to a sharp drop for the month. Analysts expect Canada’s growth to be around 1.4 percent for the first quarter and to remain consistent around the 1.5 to 1.9 percent range for the remainder of the year.
M icrosoft announced that partnering firms that the tech giant works with on joint ventures will have patent and design rights for the technology it collaborates on. This is a huge move for Microsoft and part of a new initiative on intellectual property (IP). This move is in response to increasing concerns that technology companies like Microsoft will use the using knowledge acquired from these joint ventures about their firms and their customers and markets and use it to compete against them. Plus, under previous agreements Microsoft allowed partners it created technology with to commercialize it through licensing agreements.
The problem that comes from that is confusion over which company actually owns the rights to that developed technolo- gy, which could result in litigation if either party feels there has been a copyright violation.
With an increasing number of companies now collaborating with major technology firms on new technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud and blockchain competitive intelligence is at risk and this will allow companies more willing to collabo- rate on future projects that will lead to better technology for businesses and consumers. For example, IBM is now working with several food companies, including Nestle, Unilever and Walmart on a blockchain project to trace contamination in the food supply which could develop new industry tracking that could save lives.
Aimia Inc.’s Aeroplan program to its own system, Aeroplan striking a deal with Amazon after losing Air Canada, Esso affiliating itself with PC Optimum and Loblaw Co. combin- ing loyalty programs at its grocery stores and Shoppers Drug Mart under the PC Optimum program in an attempt to better target customers and keep customers engaged with the plan and brand.
The Canadian Tire program will allow customers to collect money either through an app or a loyalty card that will also offer personalized content and offers, while purchases with the branded MasterCards earn additional money.
This change comes as loyalty program and carriers see big changes in Canada with Air Canada moving away from
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APRIL 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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