The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Nov. 9, edition that deal-making activity in Canada fell to its lowest level since at least 2017 during the third quarter. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that both the number of merger and acquisition transactions and their combined value declined significantly year-over-year between the start of July and the end of September, says the latest Canadian M&A report from Crosbie & Co. Just 579 deals were conducted in the quarter, down more than 15 per cent and below every other three-month period Crosbie has tracked since 2018. Total deal value fell even more sharply, down 30 per cent, to $44-billion, from the third quarter of 2022. The Globe says experts now insist that circumstances have aligned for a recovery in 2024. Crosbie director Stephen Ng says that despite where the market ended up in the third quarter, "there are reasons to be optimistic heading into 2024." Activity in the oil and gas sector, for example, has been accelerating in recent months. Crescent Point Energy added yet another billion-dollar-plus deal to the sector's tally earlier this week when it agreed to pay more than $2-billion plus debt to buy Hammerhead Energy.