TORONTO -- Five things to watch this week in Canadian business:
Money Talk: Investment management giant BlackRock hosts a meeting Monday in Toronto between global financiers and several federal cabinet ministers including Bill Morneau of Finance. Ottawa's big spending proposals, including plans to set up an infrastructure bank to expedite projects with public and private money, serve as the backdrop for the discussion.
Trudeau Travels: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads south beginning Tuesday for a six-day trip. He'll make stops in Cuba and Argentina before arriving in Peru next Saturday for an APEC meeting, where freer trade and investment in a market of 2.8 billion people are on the agenda.
Ontario Fiscal Update: Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa will deliver an update Monday on the state of the province's finances. He is also expected to provide some measure of relief for first-time homebuyers struggling to enter Toronto's housing market, where prices are creeping towards Vancouver levels.
Food Fight: We may get a sense of who's winning the grocery wars Wednesday when Loblaw and Metro report their latest quarterly results. Loblaw is the bigger of the two, but both companies are facing similar challenges on a hyper-competitive battlefield, including recent deflation in food prices.
Inflation: The inflation figures for October come out Friday. The consumer price index was up 1.3 per cent in September compared to a year ago, slightly below expectations.
