The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that the pace of Canadian merger and acquisition activity is plummeting while corporate borrowing rates continue to soar. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that 460 transactions involving Canadian companies were announced during the second quarter. That is the lowest deal count for any three-month period since at least 2005 as trade uncertainty and fallout from the Iran war have created a challenging environment for both buyers and sellers. Domestically, Canada's corporate debt market continued to blow past records, with businesses issuing roughly $29-billion in corporate bonds between early April and late June, up 39 per cent from the same period in 2025 and 32 per cent above the second-quarter average over the past 10 years. Several multibillion-dollar megadeals buoyed total M&A value in the second quarter, with roughly $77-billion (U.S.) in transactions involving Canadian companies. One-third of that total came from just three transactions that were announced over a two-week period in April: Shell PLC acquiring ARC Resources for $16.4-billion, First Capital REIT being sold for $5.2-billion and GFL Environmental agreeing to pay $5.4-billion for Secure Waste.