Canada offers financial aid to farmers and companies affected by Iran war price spikes
BNN Bloomberg
Canada’s federally backed farm lender is offering financial aid to farmers, agricultural businesses and food companies hit by the spike in fertilizer and energy prices, it said on Friday.
Borrowers from the Farm Credit Canada program will be able to receive a new or additional credit line of up to $500,000, to modify terms and to defer principal payments on existing loans.
The money will come from an expansion of the Trade Disruption Customer Support Program, which was introduced in March 2025 to help agriculture and food borrowers hit by U.S. tariffs.
It will now also provide support to help producers and agribusinesses “manage financial pressures caused by unexpected market shocks,” Friday’s statement said.
Fertilizer prices have soared since the Iran war began at the end of February and led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most shipping, disrupting urea and sulphur supplies from the Gulf.
As a result, farmers around the world are struggling with fertilizer costs as the northern hemisphere spring planting season approaches.
Oil prices steadied on Friday on the intensifying Iran war to around US$110 a barrel, while global shares were mixed following Wall Street losses.
With energy markets reeling due to the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, there are calls for British Columbia to ramp up its production of liquefied natural gas.
Iran intensified its attacks on oil and natural gas facilities around the Gulf on Thursday, raising the stakes in a war that is sending shock waves through the global economy.
Canadian and U.S. stock markets fell on Thursday as higher oil prices stoked inflationary fears.
Canadian securities regulators on Thursday announced a pilot project to allow smaller issuers to voluntarily adopt a semi-annual financial reporting framework, in a bid to ease the regulatory burden for public companies.
ETF strategies shift to defensive sectors while targeting growth opportunities as volatility and geopolitical risks reshape investor sentiment.
When U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office last year, he launched a crusade to shift the country away from renewable energy, drastically undoing the climate-friendly policies of his Democratic predecessor to focus instead on oil and other fossil fuels as the answer to his goal of American energy dominance.
Markets remain resilient despite oil surge from Middle East conflict, as investors watch inflation risks and potential supply disruptions.
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Israel killed another top Iranian official -- the intelligence minister -- in its campaign against the Islamic Republic’s leadership, and an Iranian offshore natural gas field was struck Wednesday amid the war’s escalating pressure on the region’s economic lifeblood: energy.