Canadians can expect to see higher prices at the pump with the U.S announcing a ban on the importation of Russia oil, further rattling energy markets. Google is putting in an all-cash offer of US$5 billion to purchase cybersecurity company Mandiant—and make up lost ground in the cloud computing space against competitors. The hotly anticipated Apple Peek Performance Event showcased a list of new features for the latest models of iPads, iPhones and Macs, but a powerful new M1 Ultra chip and Mac St...
Mar 09, 2022•13 min
As the war in Ukraine escalates, women are playing a growing role in the country’s defence—on the front lines, in parliament, and beyond. The most recent data released in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report shows that it will take the US and Canada 61.5 years to close the gender gap. The federal government pitched its $27 billion childcare plan as a way to save families money and make it easier for parents to stay in the workforce while raising kids, something that would benefit ...
Mar 08, 2022•10 min
There’s not much Canada can do to bring down soaring energy prices in the short term because our export capacity is maxed out at least that’s according to Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. The Biden administration has finalized a new ‘Buy American’ rule—an initiative aimed at boosting American manufacturing that could hurt Canadian businesses. As remote work shifts to hybrid models, a new commuter has emerged… the type that works from hotels. Which is leaving key players in the tr...
Mar 07, 2022•12 min
New day, new economic penalties against Russia: Canada is imposing a 35% tariff on goods imported from Russia and its ally Belarus as the feds look for new ways to respond to the invasion of Ukraine. Canada’s transportation regulator has launched an investigation into Edmonton-based Flair Airlines, surrounding potential issues around foreign control. Frito-Lay's standoff with Loblaw has left an (unsuspected) third-party winner standing… Ontario chips and salsa maker Neal Brothers
Mar 04, 2022•12 min
The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 basis points to 0.5% yesterday. And if that sentence isn’t dull enough to put you back to sleep, we want some of whatever coffee you’re brewing. A growing number of Canadian and international companies, including Apple and Canada Goose are suspending operations in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine*.* Major League Baseball (MLB) has cancelled the first games of its season, set to begin on March 31, over a labour dispute. More bad new...
Mar 03, 2022•12 min
Member states of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves in an attempt to calm energy markets thrown into turmoil by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Netflix is the latest tech company to take a side in the Ukrainian-Russian war, opening up a Pandora’s box of questions around the ethics of censorship during the conflict, as they defy Russian regulators. Uber is introducing a new feature for Canadians that will allow users to ma...
Mar 02, 2022•11 min
Ontario will become the first place in North America to set a minimum wage for gig workers, the provincial government announced yesterday. Find out how technology firms with offices and employees in Ukraine are working to help staff leave the country amid the intensifying Russian invasion. With services like Apple Pay going out of service and the Ruble losing value by the minute, Western sanctions designed to cripple the Russian economy are starting to have a real impact on ordinary Russians. Ce...
Mar 01, 2022•11 min
Russian tanks rolling down highways, missiles raining down on cities, and soldiers readying for battle have dominated the “For You” feeds of TikTok users this week, as the war in Ukraine becomes the first major conflict documented on the social media app. A long-predicted nursing shortage has hospitals across the country scrambling to find staff and businesses are stepping up to fill the gap (and pull open some purse strings). The EU, UK, US, and Canada announced a new round of economic sanction...
Feb 28, 2022•11 min
President Biden announces sanctions against Russia as Russian forces invade Ukraine. Biden also warned that these sanctions may hike prices at the pump. After two years of uncertainty (which in light of recent events, might last some time longer) and periods of isolation, Canadians are cautiously beginning to dust off their wallets and spend again, according to a study by Paybright. If you already spend hours doomscrolling on Reddit, you might want to skip this. Reddit made the first update to i...
Feb 25, 2022•11 min
Trump Media & Technology Group, a private media company founded by Donald Trump, launched Twitter lookalike Truth Social this week to users in the US and Canada as political users consider alternative platforms to big tech. Starbucks is known for its formulaic drinks, chill ambiance, and friendly baristas who know your name (even if they misspell it) but behind the counter, unrest is brewing with a large scale unionization underway across the US. Netflix is launching a product that looks a l...
Feb 24, 2022•12 min
We don’t want to alarm you, but you may not be able to find Doritos at your local super-market for a while: snack giant Frito-Lay is cutting Loblaw off from its products amid a dispute over price hikes. A $30 million settlement between US Soccer and female players over equal pay with men has ended a six-year fight that pitted the World Cup-winning team against their sport’s governing body. Swedish buy-now-pay-later service Klarna announced yesterday that they’re opening a tech hub in Toronto wit...
Feb 23, 2022•12 min
The ballooning cost of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion could fall on taxpayers, industry experts say, despite federal government assurances that no more public funds will be used to finance the project. A car transport ship carrying thousands of luxury cars is still stuck in the Atlantic Ocean after it caught fire last week, troubling an industry already grappling with pandemic-related supply chain issues. Talk about a big catch! Some users of NFT marketplace OpenSea were victims of a phis...
Feb 22, 2022•11 min
The Emergencies Act, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked for the first time ever in response to ongoing protests in Ottawa, expanded the powers of banks and other financial institutions. Yet, Canadian bankers are still scratching their heads in figuring out how to implement the orders. Looks like Disney is now bringing the magic to a residential development near you, starting with a a sold-out luxury residential community called Golden Oak in Florida. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn gear...
Feb 18, 2022•9 min
Despite exceeding analysts expectations, Shopify’s stock dropped 20% yesterday after warning that revenue growth would slow in 2022 as the pandemic-era e-commerce boom ends. A new report released by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) says crypto assets, especially stablecoins, could present a significant risk for markets and calls for more regulatory oversight. Google has announced plans to overhaul app tracking on Android devices — the mobile operating system used by 70% of the world. And adve...
Feb 17, 2022•11 min
Tim Hortons had a great fourth quarter as it almost double (doubles) its quarterly profit, as the coffee chain recovers from its pandemic woes. Apple announced that they’ll modify their AirTag technology to better protect against criminals using it to track unsuspecting victims. A new study has found that there is one thing that makes Canadian housing prices go down: flooding, which researchers found depressed final sale prices in impacted markets by 8.2% in the six months after a flood. Celebra...
Feb 16, 2022•9 min
A Toronto PetSmart is the latest retail location to vote to unionize since the pandemic began, as the percentage of unionized workers increases after years of a steady decline. Businesses are breathing a sigh of relief as Doug Ford announces Ontario’s accelerated re-opening plan. Confused about what’s going on between Russia and Ukraine? You aren’t alone: the markets are also struggling to make sense of the crisis, with the VIX — an index representing the market’s expectations of volatility — ri...
Feb 15, 2022•11 min
High-level officials including President Biden and Pete Buttigieg are adding pressure to re-open the Ambassador Bridge, amid ongoing protests that are beginning to take a toll on both country’s economies. France’s President announced that the country will build up to 14 nuclear reactors, as part of a plan to ramp up energy production and phase out fossil fuels. It may not the “sexiest” way to invest, but ETFs in Canada are having a moment after seeing a second record-breaking year of cash flows ...
Feb 14, 2022•10 min
According to a 2021 survey by IT company Novipro and polling firm Leger, a quarter of Canadian businesses have been the victim of a cyber attack, half of which paid a ransom. Canadian businesses, like Telus and Bombardier, that narrowed their focus and sold off secondary business lines are now reaping the rewards, new earnings reports show. Canada is the third most sleep-deprived country - and we are tied with the US for this esteemed ranking - with nearly a third of the Canadians feeling like t...
Feb 11, 2022•11 min
How many protesters does it take to freeze a quarter of Canada-US trade? Shockingly few, as we learned by the recent blockade at the Ambassador Bridge, shutting down traffic on one of Canada’s busiest border crossings. Canadians be able to legally bet on the Super Bowl for the first time ever as legal single game sports betting comes online in Canada. European scientists set a new record for the highest amount of energy created through nuclear fusion — the reaction that powers the sun — in a maj...
Feb 10, 2022•11 min
A Housing Affordability Task Force convened by the Ontario government says 1.5 million new homes must be built in the province over the next 10 years in order to make housing affordable again. Toronto’s Financial District is starting to look less like a ghost town as some Bay Street bankers start heading back to the office this week. There’s a thriving economy out there for maple syrup — and New Brunswick producers want a bigger piece of it. ** Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout h...
Feb 09, 2022•11 min
Spotify is deleting over 70 episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience as Toronto-based Rumble offers Rogan $100 million to join their platform. “The Matrix Resurrections” studio Warner Bros. could use some of Neo’s bullet-dodging skills about now as it faces a lawsuit over the decision to release the movie simultaneously on streaming platforms and in theatres. Big changes to Canada Post could be coming as Minister Filomena Tassi releases the results of a poll among Canadians on their opinions on cert...
Feb 08, 2022•11 min
Hopper, the Montreal-based travel app, is flying high after selling $44.6 million worth of equity to Brookfield Asset Management this week. Canada’s job market is struggling, new job numbers show that the economy shed 200,000 jobs in January, well above analyst forecasts of 110,000 losses. IBM plans to launch its first Canada-based quantum computer in Quebec, in partnership with the provincial government, per The Globe and Mail. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://the...
Feb 07, 2022•9 min
Housing prices could drop up to 20% in some of the most over-heated Canadians markets, according to one of the country’s top banking regulators. Facebook’s parent company Meta’s stock collapsed by as much as 26% yesterday morning —wiping out over US$200 billion from its market cap — after the tech giant forecasted weaker revenue growth this quarter. The Saudi Arabian-backed Super Golf League (SGL) is trying (again) to court the world’s top 100 golfers, according to US golfer Phil Mickelson — who...
Feb 04, 2022•12 min
Vancouver-based TerraZero Technologies has processed one of the first-ever metaverse mortgages, facilitating the transaction for a new landowner in Decentraland, a virtual world. Self-driving car company Cruise is gearing up to launch a fully self-driving robotaxi service to the public in San Francisco. Alphabet is reducing the price of its shares to make investing in the company more accessible. The move is called a “stock split” and in this case, will increase the company’s shares by a multipl...
Feb 03, 2022•9 min
Show Notes: Talk about a strong start to the Year of the Tiger: three Canadian tech companies have announced a combined ~CA$511 million in funding yesterday, a sum that amounts to around a fifth of what Canadian companies raised in all of Q1 2021. The internet is divided–again–only this time, it’s surrounding The New York Times’ (NYT) decision to buy Wordle, the new and wildly popular online puzzle game that has captured the hearts and minds of users around the world. The US plans to reduce tari...
Feb 02, 2022•12 min
Blackberry is selling tens of thousands of patents for US$600M to a single company to turn its focus towards its core business: cybersecurity and software used by automakers—yeah, it’s been a while since they’ve made money from smartphones. A new Canadian Airline called Lynx Air has emerged, as new competition between low-cost airlines and its larger counterparts—Air Canada and WestJet—heats up. Consumer brands like Walmart and Procter & Gamble (P&G) are jumping on the metaverse bandwago...
Feb 01, 2022•11 min
Wireless plans in Canada are (finally) getting cheaper—or are they? A new federal government report shows progress on price cuts but the full picture is a bit more complicated. Apple reported its best quarter ever—partly because they have a supply chain advantage. Facebook has found a new way to make money from your face according to new patents filed by the company. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306...
Jan 31, 2022•9 min
Uber has struck a deal with Canada’s largest services sector union to represent the ride-hailing company’s Canadian 100,000 drivers and delivery workers. Canadian high-end car, plane and boat makers are bracing for cancelled orders under the Liberal government’s luxury tax, per The Globe and Mail. Apple will soon roll out a feature that turns iPhones into payment terminals, eliminating the need for extra hardware, per Bloomberg. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://the...
Jan 28, 2022•10 min
Canadian National (CN) Railway named a new CEO after an activist investor waged a months-long campaign for the railroad to juice up its financial and stock performance. The latest company to enter the war between fintechs, startups, and tech giants for talent? Big banks. You know you're doing something right (or horribly wrong) when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) starts paying attention as the FTC fines fast Fashion behemoth Fashion Nova for suppressing specific reviews. Celebrating somethin...
Jan 27, 2022•10 min
A new non-profit group wants to help 129 Indigenous groups pursue ownership of the Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMX), making it 100% Indigenous owned. Companies have had to increase their budgets on Super Bowl LVI ads, the biggest advertising event of the year, as Omicron disrupted commercial shoots and drove up production costs. Google scrapped their controversial plans to replace traditional tracking cookies with Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), and instead announced a new proposal called Top...
Jan 26, 2022•11 min
