Canada’s housing crisis is exacerbated by immigration policy that favours highly educated workers over those considered “unskilled,” a real estate developer has told CBC News. “We’re really struggling with getting the right type of workers,” said Sue Wastell, president of Wastell Homes in London, Ont.

In a statement to CBC, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration said it plans to convene a council of advice to “assess the needs in the industry and  advise on new pathways to bring in the skilled workers we need.”

The U.S. is gearing up to more than double duties on Canadian softwood lumber, which will rise to a rate of 34.45 percent from 14.54 percent. The U.S. Lumber Coalition and the office of B.C. premier David Eby both confirmed the move, which Eby denounced as “an attack on forest workers and British Columbians” in a statement over the weekend. He is set to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney today.

The Peak Group of Companies has announced that Becky Yan is joining it as VP, marketing, effective April 14. During her career, Yan has contributed to the success of product launches for brands such as American Standard, Dulux, Ryobi, and Ridgid. Her role at Peak will cover both traditional and digital marketing strategies.

BMR Group has partnered with creative agency lg2 to revamp its brand identity. In the last few days, it has launched a marketing campaign in support of this new image, with the tagline “Built for Pros”. The platform campaign is being broadcast across various media in Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes, including TV, radio, billboards, and digital media. “This repositioning truly reflects our identity, expertise, and dedication to excellence,” CEO Alexandre Lefebvre said in a release.

Call2Recycle Canada has recognized RONA as a “Leader in Sustainability” for the thirteenth year. The award is presented to organizations that demonstrate “an outstanding commitment to the environment and to responsible battery management.” In 2024, RONA inc. stores collected 121,808 kilograms of batteries.

New 25 percent tariffs on all non-U.S.-made automobiles came into effect at midnight this morning. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the tariffs during a press conference yesterday on what he dubbed ‘Liberation Day’ for America. A further global 10 percent baseline tariff was also announced on all imports to the U.S.

In addition, Trump announced ‘friendly reciprocal tariffs,’ which would be equal to approximately half of the amount of what foreign countries impose on the U.S. In addition, the U.S. has signaled that there will be additional tariffs on so-called strategic sectors such as pharmaceuticals, lumber, and semiconductors.

Not expected to be subject to the additional tariffs are Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)-compliant goods; however, non-CUSMA-compliant goods could face up to 25 percent tariffs, while the potash tariffs would remain at 10 percent.

With warm weather looming, Home Depot Canada put on an event yesterday to promote its latest seasonal products. The shindig was held at a hip event space in Toronto’s downtown and played host to media and influencers—and Hardlines was there.

Featured products included Home Depot’s own lines of outdoor furniture, barbecues from Weber and Traeger, power tools by Ryobi, and the latest cleaning products to help consumers tackle spring cleaning. Style-wise, the focus, said Home Depot Canada’s trend and design leader, Cindy Jardim, “puts the focus on functionality, always backed by value, so consumers can be really happy with their purchases.”

Throwback Thursday is a weekly feature in which we dip into the archives of the Hardlines Weekly Report.

“Sodisco-Howden Group ended 1999 with a strong 16.5 percent increase in its sales,” we reported on April 3, 2000, twenty-five years ago.

Alas, all was not well with Montreal-based Sodisco-Howden, which was once Canada’s largest publicly-traded hardware wholesaler. It had structural problems and a lot of debt, and was hampered by an increasingly tough market for the independent dealers that it supplied. Four years later, in 2004, Sodisco-Howden was sold to CanWel Building Materials of Vancouver for $64 million. CanWel unloaded it to TIMBER MART (then Tim-BR Marts) in 2010 for $50 million, before the renamed company (Chalifour Canada) was sold to Memphis-based Orgill in 2015.

Dollarama had a fourth-quarter increase in sales of 14.8 percent, to $1.88 billion, from $1.64 billion in the same period a year earlier. This increase was driven by growth in the total number of stores over the past 12 months—from 1,551 to 1,616—and comparable store sales growth. Comps were up by 4.9 percent. Annual sales increased by 9.3 percent to $6.41 billion. Sales for fiscal 2025 include a 53rd week. On a 52-week basis, comp sales increased 4.6 percent.

Supply-Build Canada, formerly the Western Retail Lumber Association, has launched a new online listing of its members to help consumers and contractors choose local, independently owned building supply retailers. The web portal can be filtered by province and city. In addition, the association will also be developing a resource to list Canadian-produced materials sold by its members.