Stephanie Hughes

    Financial Journalist

    Stephanie Hughes is a Toronto-based freelance journalist specializing in business, personal finance, industry disruptors, and the markets.

  • COVID-19 forces Canadians to adjust retirement plans

    According to a retirement reality check report from Mackenzie Investments, Canadians anticipate needing $878,000 on average for a comfortable retirement. Current retirees have an average savings of $427,000, showing that Canadians expect retirement to be much further out of reach than their parents. The report also highlighted that Canadians now expect to retire at the age of 62, compared to a previous average retirement age of 57.

  • Be vigilant, not alarmist about BoC balance sheet: economist

    The Bank of Canada’s ballooning balance sheet has raised eyebrows this year, but one economist says while concern is warranted “we shouldn’t be alarmist."

  • Canada pulls back from 'debt deferral cliff'

    The number of Canadians deferring mortgage payments is easing, though still historically high.

  • Ten Canadian companies with rapid COVID tests awaiting Health Canada approval

    At least ten Canadian companies have developed rapid COVID-19 tests and are awaiting approval by Health Canada. Epidemiologists say having rapid tests available to Canadians should help get the country past the pandemic sooner, but that the strategy for rolling them out is key.

  • Timing is everything with federal supports for Canada’s Black-owned businesses

    Black Canadian business owners say support from the federal government is promising, but it may not come fast enough. "Business owners need this money now,” says Andria Barrett, the president of the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce.

  • “Childcare is the chokepoint of the recovery”: economist

    The federal government signalled it would include a child care action plan in its recovery priorities to support women returning to the workforce. The plan can’t come quickly enough as daycare centres are forced to shutter and the economic recovery stalls, argues Armine Yalnizyan, economist and Atkinson Foundation fellow on the future of workers

  • CMHC saw 'moderate' risk of overvalued markets, stands by price forecast

    he organization’s Housing Market Assessment report released Monday says real estate imbalances (whether the market skewed towards a buyer or seller’s market) in Canada had eased by the end of 2019. In the second quarter, the Vancouver market sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) sunk from the mid-60 per cent range to mid-40 per cent, swinging it closer to a buyer’s market. For Toronto, the ratio fell to 55 per cent in the second quarter, but only because COVID-19 lockdowns temporarily hit the brakes on transactions. At the beginning of the third quarter, the market began to rebound with pent-up demand bringing the ratio back closer to 65 per cent.

  • "Profit over people": The business of Canada's for-profit long-term care sector called into question

    COVID-19 deaths in long term care raised widespread concern among Canadians that the elderly weren't properly protected. At the head of investment decisions, the boards across major long term care operators in Ontario include few directors with backgrounds in medical or senior care. "It is about prioritizing profit over people. That's the whole principle when we're running any sector like a business,” said Amit Arya, a palliative care physician with a special interest in long-term care, holding joint faculty appointments in the Division of Palliative Care at McMaster University and the University of Toronto.

  • Vulnerable groups remain a concern after debt-to-income drop

    The shift in the second quarter was less about Canadians paying down their debt and had more to do with a jump in disposable income from government supports. And the end of supports could present risks to groups that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic

  • House prices to hold steady in the Fall, but 2021 is a different story: RE/MAX

    Low inventory and high demand will keep house prices moving higher until at least the end of 2020, according to a new report by RE/MAX. After that, the economic fallout from the pandemic are expected to catch up with the market.

  • Loyalty Wars: company rewards programs gear up to attract customers

    The loyalty program wars are ramping up with deeper discounts for cash-strapped Canadians. Companies are rolling out their own programs to entice consumers to start spending again.

  • “The dream will become a nightmare,” Siddall says on wealth inequality

    CMHC CEO Evan Siddall remains concerned about wealth inequality exacerbated by a pricey housing market.

  • Don’t have a Post-CERB game plan? Here’s where to start

    Canadians receiving the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit will find themselves cut off in September. Here are the next steps.

  • Claims CMHC is funding home equity tax research ‘inaccurate’

    The Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC) says claims it invested $250,000 in federal home equity tax research are “not accurate”. A CMHC media relations representative told Yahoo Finance Canada in an e-mail that the funding will be used for the Solutions Lab initiative in an 18-month project to improve housing affordability in Canada, exploring an array of solutions.

  • Get used to fewer employees for the next three months: Statistics Canada

    When it comes to staffing levels during the COVID-19 recovery, most Canadian businesses don’t have all hands on deck. A Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) survey found that only one third of businesses had re-hired their pre-pandemic staff capacity. It’s likely going to stay that way for some time: In a separate survey on Canadian business conditions, newly released from Statistics Canada, almost two-thirds of businesses expect their number of employees to remain the same over the next three months.

  • Canada can expect a slow-and-steady credit growth after the pandemic: economist

    Canadian credit borrowing will see a slow return to normal, with the credit growth trend expected to stay below average during the recovery phase following a steep contraction during the pandemic.

  • Consumer ‘COVID-19 hangover’ means a slow return to normal for businesses

    Canadians are not in a rush to go out and spend like they would in the pre-pandemic days. Businesses can expect a gradual return to normal as consumer anxiety slowly lifts.

  • New CERB bill is punitive for low-income workers: economist

    The CERB end date is fast-approaching, prompting concerns for Canadians who may not have a job to return to post-pandemic or for the many workers who have had their hours significantly reduced.

  • Eviction bans are not expected to hurt commercial landlords: Colliers

    Commercial landlords across Canada will be confronted with many challenges after months under lockdown, though eviction bans are not expected to be one of them.

  • New CMHC requirements will have buyers flocking to the market: brokers

    Experts in the real estate industry say CMHC’s new lending measures will trigger a surge in home purchase volume as potential home buyers rush to the mortgage market before the policies take effect.