Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week

TORONTO – Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

The future, revealed
Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains will announce a “major investment” in 5G technology on Monday. 5G networks have been heralded as the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering network connections that are multitudes faster than today’s, and allowing for growth in “smart city” technology, driverless cars and industrial automation.

Latest trade figures
Statistics Canada releases the wholesale trade figures for January on Monday. Wholesale sales numbers for the previous month missed economists expectations of 0.4 per cent growth, instead falling 0.5 per cent in December, the first decrease in three months. Economists expect the latest numbers to provide clarity on the pace of early 2018 growth after manufacturing sales fell by a wider-than-expected one per cent in January.

Another one rides the bus
Transit bus manufacturer New Flyer Industries Inc. releases fourth-quarter and year-end results on Wednesday. North America’s largest transit bus and motor coach manufacturer and parts distributor won a contract in August 2017 to provide the City of Edmonton with 110 clean diesel heavy-duty transit buses and acquired ARBOC Specialty Vehicles LLC in December 2017 for US$95 million.

Rise of the superfoods
AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. discusses fourth-quarter and year-end results on Wednesday. The processor and distributor of value-added pulses, staple foods and ingredients, is a supporter of Protein Industries Canada, one of five superclusters chosen by Ottawa to receive money from a $950-million fund aimed at spurring economic opportunity in high-value investments.

Whose streets?
Sidewalk Toronto will hold its first public roundtable meeting on Tuesday. The subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet plans to build an experimental mixed-use “digital neighbourhood” on Toronto’s waterfront using data analysis, sensors, automated vehicles and heated bike lanes. Details on the project have been scant, an issue that both supporters and critics are likely to bring up at the roundtable.

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