The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that deal-making activity in Canada fell to its lowest level since at least 2017 during the third quarter, though signs of stabilizing interest rates should soon usher in a rebound. 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, according to the latest Canadian M&A report from specialty investment bank 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 the first quarter of 2018. Aggregate deal value fell even more sharply, down 30 per cent, to $44-billion, from the third quarter of 2022, suggesting the transactions that are being completed are on average relatively small. The dismal deal flow comes more than a year since Bay Street started betting on a rebound in M&A, though this time experts are even more adamant that circumstances have finally aligned for a recovery in 2024. Crosbie said there were high hopes for a rebound after a very slow 2022, but then the U.S. regional banking crisis hit.