Share buyback binge on hold as Canadian companies line up for COVID-19 relief

Financial Post – Canadian companies have spent billions in recent years buying back their own shares with little pushback from Parliament Hill, but that could soon change as some of those same firms line up for federal bailouts.

Until about a month ago, Canadian companies were steadily repurchasing their own stock as a way to return more money to shareholders and bolster share prices, which last year helped fuel a 20-per-cent surge in the S&P/TSX Composite Index.