A roundup of the most newsworthy press releases from Cision Distribution this week

TORONTO, Feb. 16, 2024 /CNW/ – With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on Cision. To help journalists and consumers stay on top of the week’s most newsworthy and popular releases, here’s a recap of some major stories from the week that shouldn’t be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

A&W celebrates Family Day with a week of ‘Burger Family Deals’ through the A&W Mobile App 
This Family Day, A&W is inviting Canadians to savour and save on delicious food all week long with the launch of their ‘Burger Family Deals’. Enjoy seven days of mouthwatering deals available exclusively through the A&W mobile app. The seven appetizing offers will be available starting February 19th to February 25th. A&W mobile app users can access the daily deals to save big on A&W classics like the Teen Burger and Onion Rings. Simply download, create an account and open the A&W mobile app and go to the ‘offers’ section each day to redeem a free item with your purchase to enjoy for dine-in or pickup. To enjoy the seven days of exclusive deals with your Burger Family, go to https://bit.ly/3OAcFIY to download the A&W mobile app.Freed Developments Announces 5-Star Luxury Hotel and Residences Project, An $800M Skyscraper Set To Transform The Toronto Skyline
Visionary real estate developer Peter Freed of Freed Developments announces first-ever Freed Hotel and Residences tower located at Adelaide and Duncan, just west of University. This $800M skyscraper will bring both Katsuya by Sam Nazarian’s Disruptive Group by sbe and artwork by renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to Toronto. Designed by Chicago-based tall building experts Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, renowned for the next world’s tallest and most luxurious skyscraper Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, as well as  Central Park Tower in New York, the project will feature 100 five star luxury hotel rooms and 400 luxury condominiums with a world class Skybar/restaurant on the 63rd floor, boutique spa, and a 10,000 sq ft Katsuya Restaurant on the 2nd floor.A&W’s New Spicy Piri-Piri Buddy Burgers draw inspiration from a popular menu hack 
If you’re looking to spice things up, A&W has got you covered with the launch of their new limited-time offer (LTO), the Spicy Piri-Piri Buddy Burger. The new Buddy Burger brings the heat with a distinctive piri piri sauce (hot chili pepper flavour), topped with crisp whole-leaf lettuce, and a slice of tomato and red onion, and comes with your choice of seasoned 100% breaded chicken breast, a 1.6 oz grass-fed beef patty, or opt for a crispy hash brown potato patty. Sandwiched between a freshly toasted bun, each Spicy Piri-Piri Buddy Burger in this fiery new lineup is just $3.99. The Spicy Piri-Piri Potato Buddy Burger is A&W’s first Buddy Burger that highlights a crispy hash brown as the star. The new LTO is a result of community-driven innovation. For years, A&W employees have been quietly building a menu hack for themselves as well as guests, predominantly from the South-Asian community.Staples Canada Appoints Rachel Huckle as CEO 
With more than 20 years of distinguished experience in the retail sector, Huckle brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership to her new role. Having served as Chief Retail Officer (2019), and President and Chief Operating Officer (2022) at Staples Canada, Rachel has played a pivotal role in its transformation to The Working and Learning Company. Under her guidance, Staples has expanded its products and services to provide more value and selection for consumers, grown its business-to-businesses offerings serving Canadian businesses of all sizes, and forged important strategic partnerships that have significantly enhanced the business. “I am deeply honoured to assume the role of Staples Canada’s CEO,” said Huckle. “Together with our talented team, I am committed to building upon the company’s legacy of success and innovation, fostering a culture of excellence, and delivering value to our customers, employees, and retail partners across Canada.”TELUS reports operational and financial results for fourth quarter 2023; announces 2024 financial targets 
“Throughout 2023, our team successfully navigated a highly competitive industry, overcame a challenging macroeconomic landscape and a dynamic regulatory environment, to achieve strong financial and operational results across our business. Indeed, our results for the year demonstrate execution strength in our TTech business segment, characterized by the potent combination of leading customer growth, complemented by strong operational and financial results, and enhanced by our significant and ongoing focus on cost efficiency. These results were buttressed by improving and resilient fourth quarter profitability from our DLCX segment, despite the continued challenging macroeconomic operating environment faced by TELUS International,” said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO.Scotiabank announces departure of Jake Lawrence; Paul Scurfield and Michael Kruse take on expanded roles 
Mr. Lawrence joined Scotiabank in 2002, and has held progressively senior roles in Finance, Treasury and Global Banking and Markets, most recently leading the Bank’s wholesale banking and capital markets business. “I would like to thank Jake for his significant contributions over his impressive 22-year career with Scotiabank and wish him every success as he joins another storied Canadian institution. Under Jake’s leadership of the Global Banking and Markets business, we have strengthened our brand and prioritized alignment in our key markets, building out our presence in the U.S. and positioning this business well for future growth,” said Scott Thomson, President and Chief Executive Officer for Scotiabank. “Among his many contributions, Jake has built a talented team that is strongly positioned to deliver against our strategy for sustainable and profitable growth across our priority markets.”Lightspeed Announces the Return of Dax Dasilva as CEO 
Dasilva rejoins Lightspeed in the interim CEO role after the Company announced its third-quarter 2024 financial results last Thursday, February 8, 2024. Results for the quarter included total revenue of $239.7 million, which grew 27% year-over-year, and improved Net loss and Adjusted EBITDA1 ($40.2) million and $3.6 million respectively,  surpassing previously established outlooks. Along with Dasilva’s appointment as interim CEO, Lightspeed announced several changes to the leadership team and the Board. John Shapiro, SVP of Retail Technology has been promoted to Chief Product and Technology Officer, replacing Ryan Tabone who will be departing the Company in April 2024. In addition, Patrick Pichette, currently the company’s Lead Independent Director, will move into the role of interim Chair of the Board. These leadership changes are a reflection  of the Company’s ongoing succession planning.Canada Post proposes new postage rates for 2024 
Canada Post is proposing to increase postage rates in 2024. For stamps purchased in a booklet, coil or pane, which represent the majority of stamp sales, the rate would increase by seven cents, to 99 cents per stamp. The new rates would take effect May 6, 2024. Prior to these proposed changes coming into effect, domestic letter mail rates have increased twice over the last decade (five cents in 2019 and two cents in 2020), with the last major pricing change made on March 31, 2014. Canada Post understands the importance of the delivery service it provides and works to minimize the impact of price changes on all customers, ensuring any increases are fair and reasonable. The impact of the rate increase for the average Canadian household is estimated at 65 cents per year. For the average Canadian small business, the estimated impact is $12.07 per year.1 Permanent™ stamps will always be accepted at the current domestic postage price.Sentrex Health Solutions Inc. Expands Innovative Healthcare Services with Strategic Acquisition of PerCuro Clinical Research Ltd. 
Renowned for its nurse-led model of care, PerCuro (Latin for “to heal thoroughly”) fulfills a significant need in helping to deliver crucial medical services to patients across several therapeutic areas, including inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, neurology, dermatology, and rare diseases.  Established in 2003, PerCuro has become an essential partner among healthcare providers on Vancouver Island and is able to bring healthcare services closer to physicians and patients. Commenting on the acquisition, Leeanna Bulinckx, Founder & CEO of PerCuro, said: “Joining forces with Sentrex represents a pivotal moment for us. We’re excited to extend our tried-and-true PerCuro model beyond Vancouver Island to serve patients, and Sentrex, with its similar focus on exceptional patient care, will make this possible.”Intact Financial Corporation reports Q4-2023 results 
Charles Brindamour, Chief Executive Officer, said: ” The past year has been challenging for society, particularly in the face of numerous natural disasters. Through it all, our people worked relentlessly to ensure customers get back on track quickly. Despite shouldering elevated catastrophe losses as a result, the business demonstrated tremendous resilience. We achieved mid-teens operating ROE and maintained a strong balance sheet with $2.7 billion of total capital margin. As we look ahead to 2024, we are well positioned for outperformance, given strong top line momentum, continued underwriting discipline, and a refocused UK&I segment. We are pleased to increase dividends to common shareholders for the nineteenth consecutive year.” Over the next twelve months, we expect hard insurance market conditions to continue in most lines of business, driven by inflation and catastrophe losses.

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SOURCE Cision Canada