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One-in-Three Canadians Expect Bank of Canada to Begin Interest Rate Cuts in June

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4 months ago

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Two-thirds say lower interest rates will have a positive impact on their financial wellbeingNearly 40% have delayed a major purchase in the past year due to high interest rates; more than two-in-five plan a significant purchase once interest rates begin to declineTwo-in-five Canadian mortgage holders plan to refinance their home mortgage once interest rates begin to declineHalf of current renters, including seven-in-ten 18-34 year olds, believe lower rates will make it more likely that they buy a home in the future

TORONTO, May 30, 2024 /CNW/ – High interest rates have had a significant impact on the financial wellbeing of Canadians for over a year, with many calling for immediate rate cuts. While one-third (32%) of Canadians expect the Bank of Canada to begin dropping rates on June 5, even more (42%) believe there will not be a cut announced this time around.

According to the findings of the Dye & Durham’s Canadian Pulse Report for Q2 2024, a survey of more than 1,500 Canadians on trends in the economy, technology and real estate market conducted via the online Angus Reid Forum, two-thirds (65%) of Canadians say lower interest rates will make a meaningful, positive impact on their personal financial wellbeing. Nearly two-fifths (38%) have held off on making a major purchase in the past year due to high interest rates. Among the 42% who expect to make a major purchase once rates begin to decline, more than half (57%) intend to wait for significant cuts before spending on larger items.

“It’s clear that higher rates have done their job, cooling consumer spending significantly and helping to bring inflation down to much more manageable levels,” says Martha Vallance, Chief Operating Officer, Dye & Durham. “Consumers have said they’re ready to start spending again and are just waiting for the Bank of Canada to make its move, though few should expect rates to return to where they were before. Industries like real estate, automotive sales, construction and more – along with those industries that play critical roles in supporting them – should take note and prepare for a fast-moving market once meaningful cuts are made.”

Most Canadians say they believe lower interest rates will make it more affordable for them to purchase or put money towards expenses like mortgage costs (81%), the purchase price of a new home / property (70%), the sale price of an owned home / property (66%), home renovations (65%), and personal / emergency savings (58%) or RRSP / retirement savings (48%). For those that are already planning a major spend once rates begin to decline, the most common purchases are a new car (15%), a new home / primary residence (14% overall, 24% for renters) or a significant home renovation project (12%). 

High-rate mortgage renewals could lead to a wave of refinancing later this year
Many Canadian homeowners that have had to renew their mortgages in 2023 and 2024 have been stretched by the current high interest rate environment – with some seeing their monthly mortgage payments skyrocket by thousands of dollars. More than two-in-five (41%) of Canadians with a home mortgage say they plan to refinance once rates begin to decline with Albertans (58%) in particular seeing this as a way to reduce monthly expenses.

Renters are also closely monitoring the Bank of Canada’s decision, seeing lower interest rates as a glimmer of hope in their efforts to enter the housing market. Nearly three-in-five (57%) say lower rates will make it easier for them to buy a home in the future with nearly as many (50%) saying lower rates will make it more likely that they’ll be able to buy a home in the future.

For younger Canadians (18-34), a significant number say lower rates will make it easier to afford the purchase price of a new home (76%) and more likely (70%) that they will eventually be able to so.

The number of Canadians planning to sell their primary residence and move to a new one in the next twelve months has remained unchanged from Q1 2024 and Q4 2023 with 12% saying this is currently in their plans. However, slightly fewer (16%, down from 18% in Q1 2024) are planning to wait until sale prices increase before selling their house or property.

Consumer comfort with the use of AI in skilled services takes a hit in Q2
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be top-of-mind with many Canadians. However, the number of consumers expressing discomfort with skilled service providers like doctors, lawyers, financial advisors and insurance brokers using AI increased over the past quarter.

Nearly two thirds (63%) say they are uncomfortable with doctors / medical providers and lawyers / notaries using AI to support/conduct their services, up from 62% and 61% respectively in Q1 2024. More than half also say the thought of investment, financial or tax advisors (58%), insurance brokers (55%), mortgage brokers (54%) and real estate agents / brokerages (52%) using AI makes them uncomfortable.

“It’s clear that there is still a very large education piece that skilled service providers need to be mindful of to help their customers get fully on board with AI,” says Scott Bleasdell, Chief Product Officer, Dye & Durham. “The average Canadian still wants to know that a human is involved in the process, even if AI is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Transparency about how AI is and isn’t being used and the benefits it provides to the client will be critical in helping legal professionals and other skilled service providers foster widespread acceptance of AI use in their offerings.”

About the Survey
Conducted quarterly, the Dye & Durham Canadian Pulse Report is designed to uncover trends and insights into Canadian sentiment surrounding three key areas: the economy, technology and the real estate market. The findings of the report are the result of a survey conducted by Dye & Durham from May 7-9, 2024 among a nationally representative sample of n=1,516 Canadians who are members of the online Angus Reid Forum, balanced and weighted on age, gender, region and education. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The survey was offered in both English and French.

About Dye & Durham Limited
Dye & Durham Limited provides premier practice management solutions empowering legal professionals every day, delivers vital data insights to support critical corporate transactions and enables the essential payments infrastructure trusted by government and financial institutions. The company has operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and South Africa. Additional information can be found at www.dyedurham.com.

SOURCE Dye & Durham Limited

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Sparrow BioAcoustics closes 13 million in seed financing

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5 mins ago

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September 20, 2024

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The 13-million-dollar financing was led by Killick Capital, Klister Credit and Pelorus Ventures. Closing of the round represents a huge step forward for the small Canadian medical AI startup, and a big vote of confidence for their rapid progress.

ST. JOHN’S, NL , Sept. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Sparrow BioAcoustics [Sparrow], a pioneer in the field of bioacoustic AI technology, announces the that it has closed its seed financing round. The 13-million-dollar financing was led by Killick Capital, Klister Credit and Pelorus Ventures. Closing of the round represents a huge step forward for the small Canadian medical AI startup, and a big vote of confidence for their rapid progress.

“There is a future where people can screen for cardiac and pulmonary problems anywhere any time, and that future is really close now” – Dr. Yaroslav Shpak, Chief Medical Officer Sparrow BioAcoustics.

“The team at Sparrow pushed past numerous scientific, regulatory and business obstacles to get this stage. They have accomplished things that will lead to helping millions of people in a whole new way” says Killick President Mark Dobbin.

Sparrow is an SaMD (Software as a Medical Device), and the first medically cleared product that uses people’s smartphones to capture and decipher cardiac sounds. “In the last 100 days, normal everyday people successfully made 30,000 medical grade heart recordings” says Chief Product Officer Nadia Ivanova. “People use the system with a 96% success rate on their first try.”

Sparrow has been in the news recently for several breakthroughs in detection of cardiac anomalies, as well as several medical authority clearances including FDA. “There is a future where people can screen for cardiac and pulmonary problems anywhere any time, and that future is really close now” says Dr. Yaroslav Shpak, Chief Medical Officer.

The team at Sparrow is expected to follow up with further announcements in the coming weeks “We have some big things on the horizon, and we are heads-down getting ready” says CEO Mark Attila Opauszky.

To learn more about Stethophone and Sparrow BioAcoustics, please visit https://stethophone.com/.

About Sparrow BioAcoustics

Sparrow BioAcoustics, with offices in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, is leading the Software as a Medical Device industry in new directions for cardiac and pulmonary disease detection. Our team of physicians, engineers and data scientists are working to unlock the richest source of diagnostic information about cardiac and pulmonary conditions. Our mission is to help the millions of people at-risk and suffering from cardiac and respiratory disease to live longer, healthier lives enabled by earlier detection and quicker treatment.

Media Contact

Mark Opauszky, Sparrow BioAcoustics, 1 416 268 8966, mark@sparrowacoustics.com, https://stethophone.com/.

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/sparrow-bioacoustics-closes-13-million-in-seed-financing-302253893.html

SOURCE Sparrow BioAcoustics

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Huawei Cloud: One Step to Intelligence, One Leap to Excellence

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September 20, 2024

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SHANGHAI, Sept. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — During HUAWEI CONNECT 2024, Huawei Cloud hosted a Summit themed “One Step to Intelligence, One Leap to Excellence”, gathering global industry leaders to explore the intelligent transformation trend, share pioneering cases, and assist customers in their journey to cloud-based operational excellence. At the summit, Huawei Cloud and global customers, unveiled the Data Center-to-Cloud solution and the PRIME Framework white paper.

Jacqueline Shi, President of Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service, said: “Customers’ support enables us to innovate with finance, retail, autonomous driving, the Internet and many other sectors. By combining cutting-edge technologies with industry know-how, Huawei Cloud paves your way to digital and intelligence.”

Kevin Gao, President of Huawei Cloud Public Cloud Business, presented a keynote speech “One Step to Intelligence, One Leap to Excellence”. He outlined three critical factors for accelerating cloud migration and AI use: global infrastructure, continuous technological innovation, and lean operations.

In terms of global infrastructure, Huawei Cloud’s global infrastructure, KooVerse, offers extensive coverage, exceptional experience, and excellent quality. With 33 Regions and 93 Availability Zones (AZs) worldwide, Huawei Cloud supports over 10,000 customers in achieving business globalization. Huawei Cloud has interconnected with over 2,400 peers of global carriers, ensuring one hop to cloud and global business deployment for customers. Huawei Cloud data centers achieve Tier IV reliability.

Technological innovation is at the heart of Huawei Cloud’s mission to accelerate enterprise transformation. At this summit, three key areas were highlighted: compute upgrade, data-AI convergence, and application innovation.

The Data Center-to-Cloud solution released by Gao offers data center facilities, intelligent O&M, and DCN as a service, allowing customers to easily relocate and run dedicated compute resources on Huawei Cloud.

Huawei Cloud’s Ascend AI Cloud Service enables training jobs to run non-stop up to 40 days, shortens the fault recovery time to 10 minutes, and increases the linear scalability to 90% (the industry average are 2.8 days, 60 minutes, and 80%, respectively).

Huawei Cloud’s deterministic operations system has been adopted by over 300 global customers, maintaining a strong security record with zero intrusions and zero data breaches. 

DeFacto from Türkiye leverages Huawei Cloud’s cloud native solution with Cloud Container Engine (CCE) and streamlines their services.

Huawei Cloud helps Chery to deploy, use, and manage the cloud. Currently, Huawei Cloud nodes in more than 10 countries and regions are providing services for Chery.

NavInfo has adopted Huawei Cloud’s R&D expertise and CodeArts software development pipeline to establish efficient development management standards and efficiency measurement systems.

Kingsoft and Huawei Cloud have collaboratively developed an excellence framework to optimize cost management.

Tencent Music’s Tianqin Lab has developed the MUSELight AI model acceleration framework, utilizing Huawei Cloud’s Ascend AI Cloud Service.

At the end of the summit, Huawei Cloud and global customers jointly released the Enterprise Excellence PRIME Model White Paper. This white paper offers a reference framework for enterprises to leap to excellence with digital and intelligent technologies.

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Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2510991/Kevin_Gao_President_Huawei_Cloud_Public_Cloud_Business.jpg 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/huawei-cloud-one-step-to-intelligence-one-leap-to-excellence-302254392.html

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Spatial Labs Unveils Fashion Collection: Core Powered by Circle: A New Way to Connect

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September 20, 2024

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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Spatial Labs, a cutting-edge technology and design company, introduces their first fashion collection – Core Powered by Circle—a revolutionary step forward in fashion and how we connect with each other.

The Core collection is the first to leverage the new innovative platform Circle, which transforms the way we engage, share, and build relationships. Core marks the beginning of a new era in personal expression and connection – setting a new standard for fashion and for global brands.

The Core collection embodies Spatial Labs’ commitment to innovation, self-expression, and cultural impact. Each piece offers a new way to interact, making fashion a living reflection of personal identity.

The debut Core collection features essential pieces including Core Tee $120, Core Crewneck $220, Core pants $250 and Core Hoodie $320. The collection comes in five colorways including: Arctic, Titanium, Carbon, Rust, and Moss. The Core collection is made in Los Angeles and debuts online and at the flagship store in Culver City at The Platform, where customers can explore the future of fashion and experience the technology firsthand.

“Our vision with Circle is to build a platform that allows people to interact with the world around them in ways never before possible,” said Iddris Sandu, Founder & CEO of Spatial Labs.

“In a world where our connections have become fragmented and often impersonal, Circle is reimagining how we share and preserve moments. It’s not just about social networks; it’s about building a new interaction layer where everyday objects and experiences tell our stories in real-time.”

Sandu continued: “With Core and Circle, we’re pioneering a future where the objects we own,wear and touch are gateways to personal memories and shared experiences. This is not some far-off vision—it’s here, today, and it’s creating opportunities for everyone to showcase their lives in ways that feel more intimate, more authentic, and ultimately more human.”

Each item in the Core collection is embedded with smart chip technology linked to Circle which allows users to personalize their clothing. Circle users can post to their feed using “Tiles” to share photos, videos, links, playlists, and more moments from their daily life, creating deeper connections and fostering a sense of community. And it all comes to life when users tap the Tag on each other’s clothing.

Circle offers an alternative space for individuals to express themselves, allowing users to share their lives more authentically and intimately. Unlike traditional social media sharing tools that often feel impersonal, overly curated, and limiting, Circle keeps you and your close circle of friends connected, enabling a depth of presence to share your stories in real time without any expectations of maintaining a perfect image.

To learn more about Spatial Labs and to purchase the Core collection please visit www.spatial-labs.com or explore at the flagship store located at Spatial Labs Store – #104, 8840 Washington Blvd, Suite 104, Culver City, CA 90232, and engage with the future of interactivity.

About Spatial Labs

Founded in 2019, Spatial Labs exists to simplify and enhance people’s lives by bringing the digital and physical worlds together. Through innovative products and services, we help people create and enjoy experiences that inspire joy. Our mission is to make technology a natural part of the human experience and empower people to shape the world they want to see.

Founder and CEO, Iddris Sandu is a visionary technologist and designer who has been at the intersection of technology and fashion for many years. He has collaborated with leading tech companies like Google, Meta, and Twitter, and at only 19, Iddris became the CTO for Nipsey Hussle – creating The Marathon Store which was the world’s first Smart Store powered by augmented reality and geofencing technology.

His unique blend of technology and culture led him to create Spatial Labs in 2019, backed by Blockchain Capital and JAY-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners. In 2019, he founded Spatial Labs where he has collaborated with brands like Rihanna’s Fenty, Beyoncé’s IVY PARK, Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack, Vogue, Prada, and Adidas. At only 27 years old, Sandu is one of the youngest founders ever to raise an eight figure seed round for his technology company, Spatial Labs. 

Technologies developed at Spatial Labs helps people, brands, and communities tell richer, more meaningful stories.

CONTACT:
Spatial Labs
press@spatial-labs.com

SLATE PR
Andy Gelb / Ida Bo Frazier
310-461-0111
andy@slate-pr.com / Ida@slate-pr.com

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SOURCE Spatial Labs

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