Statistics Canada will stop releasing its monthly trade data indefinitely because of the U.S. government shutdown; it will likely not resume until after the U.S. Census Bureau returns to its  normal operations. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: The statistics agency relies heavily on U.S. data for its trade report and can’t calculate exports without it. The report provides investors with key information on how the economy is doing—like the value of imports and exports, and how each have changed since the last report—and its absence will make it much harder for the Bank of Canada to assess the country’s economic outlook. While U.S. data is also used for Canada’s GDP estimates, Statistics Canada said it has enough data from October and November 2018 to publish GDP numbers for the fourth quarter as planned.