Nike is calling it quits on a 20-year relationship with Hockey Canada.

What happened: Nike has permanently ended its sponsorship of Hockey Canada. The organization is still trying to save its reputation (and bank balance) following blowback from corporations and fans over its mishandling of a sexual assault scandal last year. 

If you ask US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the debt problems facing low-income countries are a problem for the global economy. 

What happened: The world’s wealthiest countries are reportedly dragging their feet on restructuring the mounting debt load they’re owed by low-income countries, per Reuters.  

As Canadian wildfires place millions of Americans under air quality advisories again this week, get ready for our southern neighbours to get mad at us all over again. 

What happened: Per CNN, about 70 million people from New York to Montana could be under air quality advisories as Canadian wildfires spread toward the border. On Sunday, the Canadian military was deployed in BC to help local authorities fight roughly 380 fires. 

Companies may be cutting back on employee perks, but top executives have been a notable exception. 

Driving the news: Corporate spending on private jets was up for a second straight year in 2022, hitting US$41.3 million across S&P500 companies, the highest level in at least 10 years. 

Somewhere Dolly Parton must be celebrating because the 9-to-5 could be history, new data suggests.

Driving the news: Research published by Microsoft shows that a growing number of employees are clocking out a bit early before logging back on to get some work done before bed, shaking up the traditional 9-to-5 workday.

Our recommendations for what to eat, read, watch, and listen to this weekend.

We sat down with Benjamin Bergen on Free Lunch by The Peak to dive into why we’ve been hearing so much about semiconductors, and the role Canada could play in the supply chain.

The world’s biggest rodeo event isn’t all barrel racing and politicians flipping pancakes but a once-a-year opportunity for Calgary to lure potential residents and investors to the city.

Catch-up: The first Calgary Stampede went ahead in 1912 after the city’s “Big Four” businessmen and ranchers agreed to bankroll the event for $100,000 (worth almost $3 million today). Since then, the rodeo has become a 10-day moneymaker for the city. 

Don your Kangol hat, crack open a Foster’s, and prepare to say “g’day mate,” because Australian leaders are coming to Canada.

Driving the news: Political and business big shots from Down Under will be Up North on Monday to discuss ways to deepen ties with Canada and compare economic policy. It’s all part of the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum happening in Toronto. 

Looking to buy a car? With an average price tag of $46,000, we’d recommend walking. 

What’s happening: The cost of hitting the open road is skyrocketing. Per The Globe and Mail, you can thank pent-up demand—following those pesky Covid-era factory shutdowns and parts shortages that left dealerships sitting empty—mixed in with rising loan costs.

Hollywood is in the midst of its first industry-wide stoppage in over 60 years, and it’s all thanks to the unprecedented advances of AI and streaming. 

What happened: Some 160,000 Hollywood actors are on strike as of this morning, after failing to reach a new labour agreement with the body representing studios and streamers.

Another strike has come and gone in what’s becoming a #LabourActionSummer. 

What happened: The union representing BC port workers reached a tentative four-year deal with their employer to re-open Canada’s westernmost ports, ending a 13-day-long strike. 

Looking to buy a car? With an average price tag of $46,000, we’d recommend walking. 

What’s happening: The cost of hitting the open road is skyrocketing. Per The Globe and Mail, you can thank pent-up demand—following those pesky Covid-era factory shutdowns and parts shortages that left dealerships sitting empty—mixed in with rising loan costs.

Canada has reportedly launched one of the first-ever probes into Nike’s alleged use of forced labour abroad. 

Driving the news: Nike Canada faces a federal investigation into allegations that it sells products made with forced Uyghur labour in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region. 

On this season of The Canadian Bank Bachelorette, 177-year-old Laurentian is looking to give its final rose to the perfect deep-pocketed suitor.

What happened: Laurentian Bank, Canada’s ninth-largest lender, is looking for a potential buyer. With branches all across Québec (plus one in Ontario) and $51 billion in assets, it could be an attractive target for banks looking to expand in the province. 

Like us at an open bar, T-Mack and friends have said, “Sure, I’ll have another one.”

What happened: Tiff Macklen and the Bank of Canada (BoC) did what most economists expected and raised the base interest rate by 0.25 of a percentage point to 5%—the highest rate seen (by anyone over 21) since 2001. 

Humanity could soon enter a new geological epoch, and it all starts in Canada. 

What happened: Researchers have chosen Crawford Lake in Milton, Ontario, as the place that best signifies the start of the Anthropocene—the new geological epoch in which human activity is the dominant influence impacting the planet’s climate and environment. 

What do Earth’s lower atmosphere and Canada’s major highways have in common? 

Too much dang traffic.

Driving the news: Satellites from Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink performed over 25,000 avoidance maneuvers over the course of six months this year, per its regulatory filings to the FCC—a sign that low-Earth orbit (LEO) is getting a little too crowded.

Another rate decision brings T-Mack back into the hot seat. 

Driving the news: Today’s Bank of Canada (BoC) rate decision is likely to be tighter than Survivor’s Final Tribal Council, but 16 out of 24 forecasts are expecting a 0.25 percentage point hike—including the nation’s largest bank economics groups. So, buckle up, everyone. 

Money might not grow on trees, but it turns out burning trees cost a lot of money. 

Driving the news: Per The New York Times, Canada’s record-bad start to its wildfire season—20 million acres burned, 155,800 evacuated, and almost $1 billion in firefighting costs—highlights the mounting pressures that come with worsening natural disasters.