On the docket for this summer: worship the sun, rediscover that you have a personality, and… the weather pattern change you learned about in Grade 8?

Driving the news: After bringing a warmer and drier winter to much of Canada, the El Niño weather event is bidding farewell.

Despite glaring labour shortages in sectors like healthcare, education, and skilled trades, Canada has long favoured business students when granting international student visas. 

Driving the news: A new CBC report details the severity of the mismatch, a problem that the country’s immigration agency has known about since 2018 and was flagged to the feds a year before a cap on student study permits was introduced. This has left large volumes of students coming to Canada to pursue programs with poor labour market outcomes. 

Like an angry punk rocker yelling at poseurs, TikTok has a plan to call out all (AI) fakes.

What happened: TikTok is poised to become the first social media platform to automatically label AI-generated images and videos on its app. Over the next few months, permanent digital watermarks will be added to such content, with the aim to expand to audio-only posts.

Businesses grappling with the effects of high interest rates are pulling back on hiring, making it tough for new graduates to land jobs, says a recent RBC report. 

Even if you’re doing well financially, TikTok has a funny way of making you feel broke. 

As banks get fined for money laundering activity, everyday people are finding it harder to secure a mortgage.

Once crowned the world’s coolest street, a bustling stretch of Montréal’s Wellington Street will be off-limits to cars this summer. 

Driving the news: Cities including Montréal and Vancouver are ramping up to launch or expand car-free street pilots in downtown areas in the coming months, with the aim of boosting foot traffic for local businesses — and giving your step count a shot in the arm.  

 Panera Bread is taking its highly caffeinated “Charged Sips” drinks off the menu in Canada and the U.S. While no specific reason was given, it might have something to do with the fact that its Charged Lemonade is blamed in two wrongful death lawsuits for inducing cardiac arrest.  

Don’t do illicit drugs in public in B.C. It’s, once again, illegal. And also, ya know, dangerous.

What happened: B.C. re-criminalized public drug use after the feds approved the province’s request to reverse part of the decriminalization pilot. 

Apple’s big event yesterday was less about getting a look at new tablets and more about what’s inside of them.

The problem: Plastic waste persists because there aren’t many micro-organisms that can break it down — it’s built differently on a molecular level from the organic trash they typically eat. 

It’s not just top athletes that’ll go toe-to-toe in Paris this summer — it will also be the stage for a showdown between hackers and cybersecurity teams.

Property insurer Intact is launching a pilot program to reduce wildfire damage to homes in Western Canada this year. 

Driving the news: Intact’s partner, Wildfire Defense Systems, will monitor wildfires in Alberta and B.C., and send a team to fireproof insured homes that are considered to be at risk. 

Critical negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage releases between Israel and Hamas are back on as Israel moves further into the southern Gaza city of Rafah. 

What happened: Delegations from both sides headed to Cairo to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage releases hours after Israel said its military forces took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing connecting to Egypt, where 1.4 million people are thought to be sheltering. 

If you’re having a bad start to the work day, at least be grateful you don’t have to deal with Molotov cocktails at the workplace. 

What happened: Work at the to-be-built Northvolt electric vehicle battery plant outside Montréal was briefly paused after staff found devices designed to start fires. It’s suspected to be the latest action in an ongoing sabotage campaign against the plant. 

The feds are hoping hefty fines will teach some “bad actor” employers a lesson.

Driving the news: New government data shows Ottawa handed out record-high penalties to nearly 200 Canadian businesses last year for breaking the rules of temporary foreign worker (TFW) programs, including wage theft and workplace abuse, per The Globe and Mail.

Last night, Boeing and NASA were supposed to launch the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner astronaut capsule.

Driving the news: No doors flew off, but the launch was cancelled after a problem was discovered with the NASA rocket propelling Starliner. The self-piloting craft was supposed to carry two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

The federal government is hoping some new laws can turn foreign interference into a foreign concept.

What happened: The feds proposed a set of laws and measures to counteract the growing threat of foreign interference from hostile states like China and Russia.

For well over a year, Bay Street wondered what TD had done to find itself at the heart of a U.S. money laundering probe. After a long, mysterious wait, we’ve got some answers. 

Driving the news: A U.S. Justice Department probe into TD Bank is reportedly tied to the drug trafficking operation of a Chinese crime group that laundered at least US$653 million in profits from the sale of illegal narcotics, including fentanyl, at U.S. banks.

After filling doctors' prescription pads in the U.S., Wegovy is taking its talents north of the border. 

Driving the news: Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy will be available in Canada starting today, a move that will relieve the high demand for Ozempic, a sister drug also owned by Novo, and boost Canadians' access to both treatments.