Tyler Anderson/National PostThe Toronto Real Estate said Thursday there were 7,621 transactions in Greater Toronto Area in February, up 21.1 per cent from a year earlier.

3. Then again, the OECD says Canada’s economy isn’t that hot right now, but will get better in 2017

Postmedia NewsThe OECD says Canada’s economy will lag the global average due to low Canadian prices

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says Canada’s economy is expected to grow only 1.7 per cent this year, well below the global average of 3 per cent, and a tad shy of the 1.8 per cent expected in the United States.

Yet the OECD has hope for us hosers. Next year Canada’s economic growth will jump to 2.2 per cent as the resource sector stabilizes and new fiscal measures kick in, such as Ottawa’s plan to boost infrastructure spending, Gord Isfeld reports.

The OECD says Canada’s weak economic performance is due to the plunge in oil prices which triggered a Canadian recession in 2015. The Paris-based international agency forecasts Ottawa’s infrastructure spending plan will add 0.5 percent points to Canadian GDP in in both 2016 and 2017.

4. A new multi-billion-dollar company is coming to Canadian commercial real estate

Tourism VancouverVancouver-based QuadReal Property Group will manage billions in real estate assets

FP real estate reporter Garry Marr has a new name for you to get to know: QuadReal Property Group.

The new company is being set up by British Columbia Investment Management Corp, which invests funds on behalf of public sector clients in the province. Starting in 2017, bcIMC is moving its $18-billion real estate portfolio into the new company.

QuadReal will look to expand in Canada and globally and will be run by an independent board of directors.

5. Barrick has settled one of the securities class action lawsuits associated with its Pascua-Lama project

Courtesy of Barrick GoldBarrick also said it’s continuing to evaluate all alternatives for its flagship Pascua-Lama gold and silver mine on the border of Chile and Argentina, including the possibility of suspending the project.

Barrick Gold has settled one class action related to its failed Pascua-Lama project in South America.

Barrick will pay shareholders US$140 million to resolve a U.S. securities class action, Peter Koven reports.

But as a wise man once said, it ain’t over till it’s over. Barrick is still facing a Canadian securities class action over Pascua-Lama.

The Canadian case is at a much earlier stage. In fact, lawyers are still fighting amongst themselves over which firm can represent the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Barrick doesn’t admit liability in the U.S. settlement, and it continues to defend itself in the Canadian case.

The case arises from a US$6-billion writedown the company took in 2013 after it halted construction of the Pascua-Lama mine on the border between Chile and Argentina.

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