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Loonie falls below 95 cents US for the first time in almost a year

TORONTO - The Canadian dollar fell below 95 cents for the first time in almost a year on a big slide in the price of oil.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.48 of a cent to close at 94.97 cents U.S., as oil hovered around US$120.02 a barrel.

That compared with oil's all-time high above US$147 reached July 11.

A drop in commodities and the strengthening of the battered U.S. dollar have ben pushing the loonie down all week, initially sending it to 96-cent-US level Tuesday.

The last time the loonie was at the 94-cent-US level was last September.

June's national drop in value of building permits widespread

OTTAWA - The residential and non-residential sectors both dropped as the total value of building permits in June fell 5.3 per cent from May to $6.3 billion.

The decline hit most provinces and was 5.5 per cent in constant dollars.

The value of building permits fell 4.4 per cent in the residential sector to $3.6 billion, driven by lower values in multi-family permits in all provinces except Saskatchewan.

The value of permits dropped 6.6 per cent to $2.8 billion in the non-residential sector due to declines in commercial and industrial intentions.

High court will hear appeals of Wal Mart employees left jobless

OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear appeals from a number of workers who lost their jobs when Wal Mart closed its unionized store in Saguenay, Que., three years ago.

The court gave no reasons for its decision to consider the two related cases and no date has been set for the hearing.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union won certification at the Wal Mart outlet in September 2004, but couldn't reach a contract agreement with the retail giant.

The union asked to take the matter to arbitration, but Wal Mart then announced it was closing the store.

The workers went to a Quebec labour tribunal and argued they had lost their jobs because of union activities.

Wal Mart said it was within its rights to close the store, which it said was unprofitable.

Metro name to be largest in Canada

MONTREAL - Venerable grocery banners Dominion and A&P will soon disappear as Canada's third-largest surpermarket chain, Metro Inc., plans to consolidate five store names in Ontario under the Metro moniker.

Metro will become the most common supermarket name in Canada, boasting 376 stores in Quebec and Ontario, after 158 stores in Canada's largest province are converted over the next 15 months.

The move supplants IGA as the most common grocery banner, although that chain's stores are owned and operated by different companies across the country.

Metro announced Thursday it will spend $200 million to rebrand its stores in Ontario, where the company had been operating under the A&P, Dominion, Loeb, The Barn and Ultra banners.

Source: The Associated Press, the Canadian Press