Sandy Hutchens brings you graphs on delinquencies and foreclosures.

There are now more than 3 million mortgage loans 60+ delinquent based on the Hope Now statistics. This covers approximately 85% of the total industry.

There are far more prime loans delinquent than subprime, although a much higher percentage of subprime (18.4%) vs prime (4.24%).

The second graph shows foreclosure starts and completions.

Foreclosure starts are above 250 thousand per month, and completions close to 100 thousand per month. There is a lag between start and completion, and a number of loans cure or are modified – but it does appear completions will increase in the 2nd half of 2009 based on the surge in starts at the beginning of the year.

Canada’s hoteliers were not optimistic in their outlook for the second quarter of 2009. Their business expectations were more negative than they were the first quarter.

Over three-quarters (78%) of hoteliers expected the number of room nights booked and the occupancy rates to be lower for the second quarter, compared with the same quarter last year. Similarly, 73% anticipated fewer corporate travellers.

More than half of hotel operators (57%) reported that they were expecting average daily room rates to be lower, compared with 10% that anticipated rates would be higher.

Almost three-quarters of respondents expected that the number of hours worked by their employees would decline, while 2% expected increases.

Over half of respondents cited regional economic conditions as a major impediment. In contrast, 12% indicated this as an impediment one year ago. The next two most-cited impediments were excess room supply (36%), and exchange rate fluctuations (28%). Reviewed by Sandy Hutchens.

The Canadian passenger bus and urban transit industries saw their combined financial performance grow in 2007. For the year, notes Sandy Hutchens, total revenue for bus-related industries rose 6.9% to $10.1 billion, while expenses increased at a slower pace, rising 4.8% to $8.0 billion. As a result of the strong growth in revenues, net income for the industries advanced 16.2% to $2.1 billion. The urban transit industry continued to account for the majority of the revenue generated by the bus industries in 2007. For the year, its revenue reached $7.2 billion, up 7.9%, more than twice the rate of growth posted for the industry’s expenses. The urban transit industry also continued to be the main employer within the bus industries in 2007, with its employment increasing 4.4% to more than 47,000. Overall, the bus industries employed more than 91,000 people in 2007.

Current dollar sales for the food services and drinking places industry increased 0.9% from the previous month to $4.0 billion in January.The price of food purchased in restaurants increased by 0.4% between December and January, according to the Consumer Price Index.All sectors of the industry posted gains in sales compared with December. Among the four sectors, limited-service restaurants (+1.6%) recorded the largest increase in January. Full-service restaurants, where patrons order and pay for meals at their table, saw their sales advance 0.5%.In the special food services sector, comprising food service contractors, caterers and mobile food services, sales rose 0.3%, while sales in drinking places increased 1.0%. All provinces posted an increased in sales except Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Quebec.

First Nations children aged 6 to 14 who lived off reserve were as likely as all children in Canada to be doing well in school (based on parents’ knowledge of their child’s school work, including report cards).

In 2006, about 7 in 10 off-reserve First Nations children aged 6 to 14 were reported by their parents to be doing very well or well in school. These findings are similar to those for children aged 6 to 14 in the general Canadian population.

First Nations girls were more likely to be reported as doing very well or well in school, as compared with First Nations boys. These findings are also similar to those for the general population in Canada.

Among First Nations girls aged 6 to 14 who lived off reserve, three-quarters were reported by their parents as doing very well or well in school, compared with 65% of their male counterparts.

According to the 2006 Census, there were 78,325 First Nations children aged 6 to 14 living off reserve in Canada. These children represented about 2% of all Canadian children in this age group.

The off-reserve First Nations population is young. Census data showed that in 2006, 19% of the off-reserve First Nations population was between the ages of 6 and 14, compared with 11% of the total Canadian population.

Sandy Hutchens points out, Majority of parents satisfied with school practices

The parents of over 90% of off-reserve First Nations children agreed or strongly agreed that their child’s school provided enough information on their child’s academic progress, attendance and behaviour.

Similarly, parents of most of these children were satisfied with the level of discipline, the quality of teaching, and the availability of extracurricular activities at their child’s school.

The parents of about 83% of children were satisfied with how their child’s school was preparing the child to make choices about the future.

Parents of a majority of children agreed or strongly agreed that their child was challenged to work at their full potential (85%), and that their child’s school had high academic standards (80%).

Factors associated with perceived achievement at school

A number of factors were associated with perceived achievement at school among off-reserve First Nations children, after holding constant other factors such as gender and age.

Factors associated with relatively high perceived achievement at school included getting along well with teachers, or with friends and classmates; having parents who were strongly satisfied with school practices (such as the school providing information on the child’s academic progress, attendance and behaviour); reading books everyday; playing sports at least once a week; or participating in art or music lessons at least once a week.

Higher household income was also found to be associated with better school achievement. All other factors being equal, off-reserve First Nations children who were in households in the highest household income range were more likely to be doing very well or well at school than children who were in the lowest range.

Factors associated with relatively low perceived achievement at school included having missed school for a period of two or more weeks in a row during the school year; having been diagnosed with a learning disability or with attention deficit disorder; and having parents who had attended residential schools.

Off-reserve First Nations children whose parents had attended residential schools were less likely to do very well or well than those whose parents had not. About 12% of off-reserve First Nations children had parents (one or both) who indicated that they had been students in the residential school system that operated across Canada between 1830 and the 1990s. Reviewed by Sandy Hutchens.