Sorry for the dated reference, but nothing funny has happened after 2007. Speaking of dogs, Toronto based pet food company, Open Farm, just raised a tail wagging $80mm led by VC firm General Atlantic.

Who is Open Farm?

No, Open Farm isn’t an AI enabled SAAS platform which allows farmers to connect with suppliers and distributors. It’s a pet food company, you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise given their cash haul.

Why Did General Atlantic Invest?

The firm invested because Open Farm is a “mission driven” company and a “highly differentiated brand and a leader within the growing pet food sector.”

Zoom Out: According to Statista, the pet food market is big and growing.  More than 16 million cats and dogs are part of Canadian families, and more than 8.8 million metric tons of pet food is manufactured in North America, with $248m USD of that being exported from Canada to the United States.

Did Toto bless the rains up in Canada (sorry, nothing good after 2007), because someone is making it rain. Canadian startups are attracting millions of dollars to grow their businesses domestically and internationally.

Jobs at Jobbers

Edmonton’s Jobber took in $60 mm USD from Summit Partners, Tech Pioneers Fund and OMERS.

Oakville Education

Oakville’s Prodigy is being funded to a tune of $159 mm by TPG Capital and the Canadian Business Growth Fund.

An Ontario couple is being charged for spreading UK variant of COVID-19.

The second impeachment of President Trump is gaining momentum as Republican Senate Majority Leader reportedly believes the move is justified.

Starbucks will close 300 Canadian stores by the end of March.

Lucky Doc: The CEO of a Hamilton hospital network got a Dominican vacation and $1 million bucks for Christmas.

Not E-Commerce: Here's why one Peak co-founder wants to mail catalogues to 50,000 homes. 

Who Is Crying? We all are. The final Jeopardy episode hosted by Canada's sexiest man Alex Trebek aired last week, the tribute to the late host is a tear jerker. 

HODL: About $140 bn of Bitcoin is lost because people forgot to hodl their passwords.

Canada’s government is taking steps to distance itself and Canadian businesses from alleged atrocities taking place in China.

Backstory: The UN estimates one million Uyghurs, an ethnic minority of the Muslim faith, are being detained in the Xinjiang region of China.

Not With Our Dollars

Canada, along with the UK, announced a series of measures to keep Canada’s hands clean:

If a firm is caught breaking these rules, they’ll no longer be eligible for trade support or export loans from Canada’s government.

Big Picture: If the allegations of genocide are true, these measures appear to be weak. The oversight is minimal and the penalties are less than a slap on the wrist. Meanwhile, Canadians are supportive of reducing overall trade with China.

It’s a good news, bad news kind of day. While we’re loading up on vaccines, we’re also loading up on COVID cases.

Western Canada

British Columbia currently has 5,220 active cases. The province has a ban on gatherings and travel between regions of the province. Alberta has the highest number of people who say they will refuse the vaccine, while school children return to the classroom next week. Saskatchewan will review their COVID restrictions this week, opposition parties are lobbying for stronger rules.

Central Canada

Manitoba is the bright spot in the middle of the country, as they post their lowest new case count since October. Ontario is set to bring in its most severe restrictions since lockdown 1.0 as models show daily new cases could reach 10,000. Here’s what you need to know. Quebec has an overnight curfew in place as high school students return to school next week. The government says all of their long term care residents will be vaccinated in two weeks.

Atlantic Canada

Nova Scotia will make COVID testing mandatory for rotational workers. New Brunswick’s death toll has risen to 11 with two deaths this week. Newfoundland residents get vaccinated as no new cases are found. PEI currently has 8 active COVID cases.

We've all heard it before: "you should meditate". But does it actually work?

The research says yes –  consistent meditation with Headspace can decrease stress and burnout and improve your ability to react to negative feedback.

This is why Teams partnered with Headspace to bring curated meditation and mindfulness experiences onto the platform.

And here's the craziest stat you'll read today: A study found that after only 4 sessions healthcare professionals saw their burnout reduced by 14%.

So yeah, if you're wondering if meditation works – it does. And starting early this year, you'll be able to access Headspace in Teams and make your wellbeing a priority. Learn more here.

GM’s shares flew as high as their soon to be launched flying cars thanks to the announcement of the car maker’s electric vans and of course the flying cars.

Market Impact: GMs shares hit a high of $48.95 on Tuesday, a record since the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2010.

Van Life

GM will invest $27 bn in electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025. Their flagship commercial vehicle the EV600 will go on sale later this year.

Flying Freaking Cars

Now for the good part, GM unveiled their “personal air mobility” products, a fancy name for flying cars, which makes sense as the vehicles will be part of their Cadillac division. The vehicles will hold one passenger and travel 56 mph from rooftop to rooftop in urban settings.

Longview: Morgan Stanley estimates the autonomous flying vehicle market will be worth 1.4 trillion by 2040.

Quebec Liberal MP Francois-Philippe Champagne will be our new Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, replacing Navdeep Bains.

The Minister’s New Groove

Champagne was shuffled into the new role from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before politics he had an impressive run in the private sector.

Why It Matters: The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry is responsible for billions of dollars targeted to commercializing products, promoting international trade and foreign direct investment, supporting the growth SMBs and creating new economic development opportunities.