- 14,883,662 doses have been administered in Canada, as of writing. 36.02% of Canadians have received at least one dose, 3.1% of Canadians are fully vaccinated, 82.8% of doses delivered have been administered.
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Percent of population who have received at least one dose: Israel: 62.6%, U.K: 51.3%, U.S: 44.4%, Canada: 36.02%, E.U: 26.3%.
- Take an inside look at how the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is made.
- Here are your answers to questions on vaccine etiquette.
May 07, 2021
Out of storage
Good morning and TGIF. It appears that we're running short on a lot of things during the pandemic: ketchup, lumber, semiconductor chips, warehouse space, and a special ingredient / animal. Let's hope this list doesn't grow...
Markets
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TSX | 19290.98 | -0.1% |
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S&P 500 | 4201.62 | 0.82% |
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DOW | 34548.53 | 0.93% |
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NASDAQ | 13632.84 | 0.37% |
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Gold | 1815.30 | 1.74% |
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Oil | 64.92 | -1.08% |
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Dollar | 0.82 | 0.88% |
Runnin’ through the 6 with my (warehouse) woes: turns out Amazon is the main culprit behind the little warehouse space we have left in Canadian cities, according to Bloomberg.
- Toronto has the lowest warehouse vacancy rate in North America, falling behind more populated cities like Los Angeles.
What’s happening? That e-commerce boom we’ve been talking about helped brick-and-mortar stores survive the pandemic, but we could run into trouble if there’s not enough warehouse space to sort and package those shipments.
- Amazon grew its warehouse capacity by nearly 12 million square feet in Canada, mostly in major cities, by the end of 2019.
- At the rate we’re going, we might completely run out of warehouse space by the end of the year.
And then there’s the housing market (sorry for bringing it up).
- Areas that would’ve once been used for industrial purposes, like, for warehouses, are now being used to build homes to keep up with the growing demand for housing.
In the first quarter of 2021, Canada had 2.9% of space available for industrial use (down from 3.1% in Q1 2020). In Toronto, that percentage is a lot smaller at 1.6%.
It’s also getting more expensive to rent warehouse space: leasing space in Toronto reached an all-time high of $10.45 per square foot this year.
To deal with the space shortage, retailers and distributors are getting creative by repurposing existing space or seeking out dark stores (aka retail stores that are sitting unused) to sort and ship items.
- Some companies are even hiring logistics experts to help them figure out the best ways to make use of their limited space. These people are like the Marie Kondos for fulfillment centres.
Big picture: The e-commerce shift has been beneficial to many businesses and our very own Shopify, which saw a doubling of its Q1 2021 revenue compared to year prior.
If we can’t find a solution to our warehouse problems soon, the uptick in logistics costs will increase the prices we pay for online purchases.
It's a classic case of mo money, mo problems. Ontario’s securities regulator accused Bridging Finance of misusing investor funds and not disclosing conflicts of interest earlier in the week.
What’s Bridging Finance? Run by David and Natasha Sharpe, Bridging Finance is one of Canada’s largest private lenders. They provide small- and medium-sized businesses with loans in the $3-50 million range and, as of December, oversaw ~$2 billion in assets.
- Rich people throw their money at private debt funds because they can fetch better returns from those investments than, say, government or corporate bonds.
- Bridging aims for at least a 6.5% return on investments per year.
Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) said Bridging execs used $35 million in total for personal benefit, including $100k to lease a 2013 Bentley GTC Mulliner and a 2018 Bentley Bentayaga (seriously, how many Bentleys do you need?).
- Bridging is now under receivership with PwC, meaning the lender no longer has control over funds.
Zoom out: What’s unfolding at Bridging is reminiscent of U.K.-based private lender Greensill Capital’s collapse in March that lost $3 billion of investor funds.
Though not on the same scale, Bridging’s clients’ funds might also meet the same fate, adding to concerns that private funders need to be better regulated.
Vehicle battery-maker Clarios is fully charged and has filed for an IPO in the U.S. with a valuation that’s rumoured to be in the US-$20 billion ballpark earlier this week.
What’s Clarios? Based in Wisconsin, Clarios is one of the world’s largest car battery manufacturers. Canadian investment firm Brookfield Business Partners bought the company in 2019 for ~US-$13 billion.
- Quebec-based pension manager CDPQ also has a stake in Clarios.
- Clarios’ batteries power a third of cars, including electric vehicles (EVs), around the world and their products are used in 140+ countries.
There’s been a growing demand for electric vehicles in the past year.
- More than 3 million EVs were sold in 2020.
Zoom out: The global chip shortage has contributed to much of the auto sector’s troubles during the pandemic. Clarios’ IPO, however, would mark one of the biggest public debuts from the auto sector this year.
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) Capital has launched a $200 million VC fund to support Canadian “deep tech” startups, according to BetaKit.
What’s BDC Capital? BDC Capital is a part of the BDC, a Canadian bank that supports entrepreneurs. They provide startups and growing companies with access to seed-stage investments to growth equity.
That’s deep: The fund is meant to support startups in “deep tech” fields like quantum computing, AI, semiconductors, and robotics. They will have access to seed and Series A funding through the Deep Tech Venture Fund.
- The fund hopes to support 15-20 Canadian startups “with an average deal size of $5 million.”
- Deep tech businesses often take longer to yield results, so it’s especially important that they have access to the type of patient capital that BDC can offer.
This is BDC Capital’s 2nd deep tech investment: the firm launched a $26 million investment fund for deep tech startups based in Quebec in February.
Bottom line: Canada is home to a wealth of talent in deep tech (not to mention the godfather of deep learning) and this new fund will help get their startups off the ground.
- American restaurants, including KFC and McDonalds, are struggling to get their hands on chickens from producers.
What’s behind this? Wing supply chains were already strained when COVID-19 outbreaks forced some meat processing plants to shut down. And since then things have really gone to the birds:
- People are turning to comfort foods like chicken sandwiches during the pandemic...to each their own.
- Meat production plants, and other workplaces, are having a hard time recruiting workers.
A market research firm found the prices of chicken breasts and wings have almost doubled since the beginning of 2020 in the U.S.
- Big restaurant chains can shoulder the rising costs, but small, independent restaurants have had to take the L and remove menu items with chicken altogether.
Bottom line: Canada and the U.S. have built most of their relationship on trade, so it won’t be a surprise if this chicken shortage affects us too.
We’ll hold out hope that this poultry crisis will turn out like the widely feared ketchup shortage which, mercifully, left Canada unscathed.
- Bank of Canada will begin regulating fintech companies through a new act.
- Twitter is testing out a tip jar feature to support creators.
- Google Play is following Apple's lead in adding a data privacy feature for users.
- Sport media company The Athletic is eyeing The New York Times as a buyer.
- The SEC might put a hamper on Robinhood with new rules.
- NYC is giving out vaccines to tourists in a bid to speed up recovery.
- Bitcoin brought life back to this coal plant.
- Just add hot water: scientists created shape shifting pasta.
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- Blue Origin is now auctioning tickets for its space tourism rocket New Shepard.
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There are plenty of course that promise to unlock the next level of your career, but do any of them actually work? The Peak put that question to Lighthouse Labs graduate Andrew Markham who answered with a definitive 'yes.'
Andrew told us about his decision to leave his steady job behind and jump into tech, how he chose which skills that were right for him and how he financially and mentally prepared for the transition.