U.S. politics: The Democratic National Convention begins in Philadelphia on Monday. Republican nominee Donald Trump has promised he will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which has yet to take affect. What Hillary Clinton has to say about the trade deals will be closely watched this week by Canadians. Clinton has been highly critical of the TPP.

Real estate: The British Columbia legislature will reconvene Monday for a special summer session to debate a proposal that would allow Vancouver to implement a tax on vacant homes in a bid to calm the city's scorching market. There are concerns that people are buying homes and leaving them empty in a city where housing can be scarce. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is also releasing its latest quarterly housing market assessment on Wednesday evaluating market conditions in select cities.

The bottom line: Earnings season gets into full swing this week with a number of companies reporting from various industries. They include Canadian National Railway, WestJet, Barrick Gold, Loblaw, TransCanada, Enbridge and Torstar.

It's the economy, stupid: That widely watched gauge of the country's economy -- the GDP -- comes out Friday for May, the same month that saw massive wildfires erupt in Fort McMurray, Alta. The disaster, which forced oilsands operations to shut down and curbed crude production, has dimmed growth prospects for the second quarter.

BlackBerry: The smartphone company is holding an event Tuesday to show how the company wants to change the way people and organizations think about mobile security and privacy.