Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Roaring back from shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are on an unprecedented spending spree that is driving up prices and hampering global supply chains.
“We’ve got this huge economy restarting from a low point that it hit about a year ago, and it’s coming straight up like a rocket,” George Calhoun, a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, explained in a recent interview with NBC News.
The surge in demand is driving up the costs of all sorts of products from food to furniture. Most recently, Starbucks reported that it has been having trouble sourcing its ingredients.
However, one of the biggest shortages is for raw materials like lumber, much of which is imported from Canada.
When asked if he’s ever seen such a wild swing with lumber prices, Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America replied: “It’s crazy.”
He added that the Trump-era tariffs on Canadian lumber that the Biden administration wants to double is a real concern:
“That has certainly added some kindling to the fire on these lumber prices... As buyers of your products, the construction industry wants to see that tariff go away.”
Lumber prices tripled during the pandemic due to constraints on production and a housing boom that had a locked down nation eager to find a new place to live or renovate their existing residence.
According to CTV News' Chief Financial Commentator Pattie Lovett-Reid, there is still soaring demand for lumber and long-term supply issues that won’t be resolved overnight.
In addition to the rising costs, consumers are also faced with Trump-era tariffs on Canadian lumber that the Biden administration now wants to double.
In 2018, the Trump administration imposed a 20 per cent tariff on Canadian softwood, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but lowered it to nine per cent late last year after a decision by the World Trade Organization.
U.S. industry analysts say tariffs and lumber costs add an extra US$35,000 to the price of a new home. That figure is so steep, Habitat for Humanity worries its charity could be priced out.
“We’re seeing an increase of about 50 per cent across the board of all supplies,” saidLeah Miller, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento. “We’re having to be very nimble and find creative ways to get busy.”
The U.S. is not alone in slapping new tariffs on foreign materials. In May, the Canada Border Services Agency set steep anti-dumping tariffs on leather-upholstered furniture manufactured in China and Vietnam, as high as 295 per cent and 101 per cent, respectively.
Top officials are downplaying the fears of rising costs and inflation, insisting that prices will stabilize when the pandemic is no longer an economic problem, but lawmakers are coming under intense pressure from home builders and other industries to cut tariffs.
“We have had several months of high inflation that most economists, including me, believe will be transitory as our economy gets back in full swing after the pandemic,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the House of Representatives Committee on Thursday.
The White House has since launched a task force to deal with critical supply chain disruptions, but officials say they are confident that the issue will resolve itself in the coming months.
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.