Tausi Insider

Photo : SV Production ( Shutterstock ) Buying a house is essentially paying an enormous amount of money for a never-ending list of chores . Every part of your house is rotting, warping, rusting, and eroding on a constant basis, and k eeping it all from collapsing around your ears is a full-time job . This means you really should consider any addition or augmentation that helps slow down the process of rot and ruin, and o ne of the easiest things you can add to your house in this effort is a storm door. While some people think storm doors aren’t attractive or add needless inconvenience to entering the house, the benefits of a storm door far outweigh these perceived downsides—especially since it’s not a terribly expensive upgrade, costing an average of $380 to install. Here’s why you should do so before the winter storms arrive . 02:50 Chopping Basics Wednesday 11:09AM 01:38 How to Retire in Phases Wednesday 10:53AM A layer of protection Your front door is a huge aspect of your...

Enbridge Inc ENB-T is increasing apportionment on its Mainline pipeline system, which ships the bulk of Canadian crude exports to the United States, as demand to transport barrels climbs due to rising production and colder weather. Enbridge will apportion December deliveries on its heavy crude system by 11% and ration space on the light oil system by 13%. The rationing is the highest it has been since last winter and comes after a period of very low or zero apportionment in 2022. Higher apportionment, or rationing of pipeline space, on the 3.1 million-barrel per day (bpd) Mainline system could lead to crude getting backed up in Alberta and weigh on prices at the Hardisty storage hub, where benchmark Canadian heavy oil is already trading at a steep discount to U.S. grades. “If this is the beginning of real additional tightness it’s going to really hurt,” said Rory Johnston, founder of the Commodity Context newsletter. “Having a transportation backlog on top of the quality discount wou...

Photo : rSnapshotPhotos ( Shutterstock ) Snow days almost bring as much joy to a child as Christmas morning. And as kids and parents anxiously watch the news to see if the weather might cause a school day cancelation, there are two measurements you might hear that sound the same: snowfall and snow depth. But you might have different numbers for each. Let’s look at what makes these two measurements different, how to measure the difference between the two (if you want to venture out into the cold, that is), and what it takes to trigger a snow day. What is snowfall? According to Merriam-Webster, snowfall is defined as “the amount of snow that falls in a single storm or in a certain period.” Suppose you want to calculate how much snow fell during a single night. Because the grass and air at the bottom of the ground can interfere with your measurement, the National Weather Service (NWS) recommends using a snowboard (or any 16x16-inch piece of plywood) because it provides a hard, flat ...

An Air Canada aircraft covered with snow and ice is moved by a tug as a Westjet aircraft is seen being moved behind it at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Dec. 21, 2022. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press Canada’s busiest airport is braced for more travel chaos as Environment Canada forecasts a winter storm will hit Toronto starting Thursday, with rain, snow, high winds and freezing temperatures threatening people’s holiday plans. Heavy snowfalls and frigid weather in parts of Canada caused commercial flight delays and cancellations across much of Western Canada earlier this week, creating headaches for hundreds stuck in terminals such as Vancouver International Airport, which said Wednesday it was limiting international arrivals to reduce the congestion on the tarmac. The arctic cold snap that hit British Columbia on Sunday then began breaking temperature records in Alberta on Monday evening, leading to hundreds of flights being delayed or cancelled out of Edmonton ...

Photo : ArtBitz ( Shutterstock ) A huge winter storm is making its way across the country this week, bringing with it heavy snow, high winds, and single-digit temperatures as far south as Louisiana. Conditions are expected to significantly affect holiday travel , and similar storms have recently challenged power grids and other infrastructure even in states that are accustomed to winter weather . Remember how an arctic freeze went for Texas ( not accustomed to winter weather) in February 2021? So—especially if you live in a place that doesn’t often see extreme cold, ice, or snow—you should check the forecast and prepare your home and belongings accordingly . Here are the precautions to consider ahead of any winter storm. Bring your pets and plants inside This should be a no-brainer, but anything living is unlikely to weather an arctic freeze well. If you have outdoor pets, livestock, or plants, bring them inside or make arrangements for shelter until temperatures rise. For cold...

Via Rail plans to resume trains on its Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal routes Tuesday, the rail service said days after a CN train derailment forced the cancellation of those trains scheduled for Christmas and Boxing Day. CN confirmed in a statement that the tracks where its train derailed on Christmas Eve will be reopened Tuesday and said Via Rail plans to run all trains on the route, but on a modified schedule. That modified schedule will be available on Via Rail’s website and communicated to impacted customers “as soon as possible,” it said. Passenger advocate urges stranded Sunwing passengers in Mexico to take legal action Thousands of Canadians spent another day in the cold and dark, as hydro crews continued working to restore electricity to those affected by the power outages caused by fierce winter storms last week. As of Monday afternoon, power was still out for over 55,000 Hydro-Quebec customers, more than 24,000 Hydro One customers and more than 1,100 clients of NB Powe...

Photo : Parilov ( Shutterstock ) If you live in an area that gets blessed by snow every winter, you’re probably pretty used to it. But no matter how experienced you are with snow, there’s one aspect of snow removal that most people aren’t prepared for: Your roof. If you’ve ever shoveled snow, you know it can be really heavy; it’s easy to heft a load of heavy, wet snow and then glance at your roof and imagine it quivering under the load. The obvious solution is to take that shovel in your hands and head up onto your roof to clear it off—but that can be very dangerous . So how can you safely clear snow off your roof so you can sleep peacefully and not worry about a collapse? When to worry about snow on the roof First things first—do you actually need to worry about snow on your roof? Sure , snow is heavy stuff—three feet of fresh snow or one foot of packed snow weighs approximately 30 pounds —but you have to remember that most building codes anticipate snow load, and your roof...

A worker drives pass an Air Canada aircraft parked at a gate at Vancouver International Airport after operations returned to normal after last week's snowstorm, in Richmond, B.C., on Dec. 26, 2022. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press This holiday travel season will be remembered for cancelled flights, lost bags and stranded or abandoned passengers, people whose winter getaways were dashed by storms and the responses of the airlines they entrusted with their plans. Canada’s aviation industry and flyers had hoped the December break would mark a recovery from nearly three years of the pandemic, and the summer of 2022, which featured airport chaos amid staff shortages. Instead, the turmoil resurfaced with scores of cancelled flights condensed in the busiest travel days of the year. Sunwing Airlines’ collapse was the worst, with customers stranded for days in Mexico and other destinations complaining of poor communications from the carrier. WestJet Airlines, Air Canada and others cancelled...

Photo : Shawn Hamilton ( Shutterstock ) Most roofs constructed after modern regulations were passed in the U.S. in 1988 are built to withstand a certain amount of extra weight in the form of snow. Even older roofs usually have some extra capacity to allow for snow. But sometimes, larger amounts of snow, or wet or compacted snow can exceed the capacity of your roof. Luckily, you can calculate your structure’s snow load, and if you think you’re getting close to the brink, take some precautions. Here are some helpful steps to take to keep snow from damaging your roof. Use a snow-load calculator There’s some information you’ll need to collect before you can make the calculations for your particular structure. First the length, width, and pitch of your roof will determine most of the calculation. Feed that information—along with your state, and the depth and type of snow—into this snow load calculator from OMNI, and it will tell you whether you’re in danger of exceeding the recommende...

Canada's banking regulator is launching public consultations on rules around mortgage lending as it says loan risks have increased considerably since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of Tausi Insider’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. New mortgage rules could restrict more borrowers Earlier this week, Canada’s banking regulator proposed new mortgage guidelines, including three new limits on how lenders grant the loans. According to Robert McLister, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions wants to skim another layer of the least-qualified borrowers off the federally regulated mortgage market. The proposal includes restricting how much banks can lend borrowers whose mortgage exceeds a certain percentage of their gross income, limiting the debt-service coverage exce...

Cars and debris from washed away homes line a canal in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., on Oct. 5, 2022. Rebecca Blackwell/The Associated Press Natural disasters, many driven by climate change, caused global economic losses of US$313-billion in 2022, insurance broker Aon estimated on Wednesday, of which less than half was insured. Losses from natural catastrophes covered by the insurance sector amounted to US$132-billion, 57 per cent above the 21st-century average, it added, leaving a global “protection gap’” of 58 per cent. Yet while the number of catastrophic events such as floods and hurricanes rose – at least 421 individual events compared with an average of 396 since 2000 – Aon said the protection gap was one of the lowest on record. “It was relatively low due to the fact that many of the costliest disasters occurred in countries with mature insurance markets such as U.S. or Europe, whereas losses in less-covered regions such as Asia were well below average,” Michal Lorinc, head of catas...