Canadians are turning away from economic surveys, a development that’s hurting far more than just the feelings of the Stats Canada surveyors knocking on their doors. 

Driving the news: Stats Canada is struggling to get businesses and households to respond to its Labour Force Survey, a trend that could distort key economic data, per The Globe and Mail. The most recent response rate has fallen from 87% in 2019 to 70% in September.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of thousands of hiring managers clacking at their keyboards, updating Indeed postings. 

What happened: All B.C. job postings must now include salary ranges, as mandated by the province’s recently passed Pay Transparency Act. Employers also can’t ask how much you made at your previous job, or punish you for sharing your income with your colleagues.

Forget ghouls, ghosts, and teenage pranksters; the scariest thing that haunted Halloween this year was the spectre of a recession. 

What happened: New GDP numbers show that Canada’s economy stagnated in August instead of growing 0.1% as expected. If GDP stays flat in September, as is now projected, the country will officially enter… *screams* something called a ‘technical’ recession. 

NHL rivalries are no longer the only thing stoking competition between provinces. They’re now also fighting for Canada’s scarce supply of workers.

Driving the news: Provinces are piloting new strategies to lure skilled workers in high-demand sectors like healthcare, green energy, and construction.

On this week’s episode of Free Lunch by The Peak, we sat down with Jim Stanford to talk about the wave of autoworker strikes in the US and Canada and what it means for the sector. 

As some Canadians prepping for Thanksgiving come face-to-face with $120 turkeys, the government is asking big grocers to do something, anything, to lower food prices. 

What happened: The feds announced that Canada’s five biggest grocers — Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart, and Costco — committed to several actions that will lower prices, including price freezes for “key food products” (exact foodstuffs were unspecified) and price matching. 

Picture the life of a digital nomad: You’re probably thinking of oceanfront workplaces, rainforest yoga, and drinking out of coconuts. But what about just heading to Toronto?

Driving the news: Per Bloomberg, the list of picturesque destinations cutting the red tape and offering remote work visa schemes is growing, including places like Barbados, Portugal, and Germany. Some are even extending visas in hopes of boosting business and innovation. 

As the calendar turns and labour unrest in Canada continues, the Summer of Strikes is evolving into the Autumn of Arbitration (which is way less catchy, but just as important). 

Driving the news: Per a new RBC report, amidst a surge of high-profile strikes, first-year raises for union workers are up 7.1% as of July — the highest rate since the early 1990s.

Big congrats to anyone who works for Ford on your big raise. Next round is on you!

Driving the news: Workers at Ford’s Canadian facilities voted to ratify a deal negotiated between their union, Unifor, and the automaker that includes a 15% wage increase over the next three years.

On this week’s episode of Free Lunch by The Peak, we sat down with Brendon Bedard, Senior Economist at Indeed, to talk about the weakening labour market, and what it means.