As of yesterday, almost 80% of Canada’s ministers are new or in a new role… all with the hopes of making a dent in the country’s most pressing issues ahead of the next election. 

What happened: Following what former Liberal minister Catherine Mckenna called a “bonkers Cabinet shuffle speculation," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau almost completely overhauled his front bench with a renewed focus on housing, defence, and public safety. 

The Mounties appear on the verge of a major shakeup—and no, it doesn’t involve ditching the iconic Red Serge jackets and campaign hats. 

Driving the news: The city of Surrey was ordered by BC’s Solicitor-General to move forward with a plan to end RCMP policing and establish a municipal police force instead.

After years of losing talent to the US (a phenomenon also known as the ‘brain drain’), Canada is now looking to get revenge and poach tech workers from the US.

Driving the news: A pilot program aimed at bringing in H-1B visa holders currently living in the US reached its cap of 10,000 applications after being open for just two days.

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. 

Google and Meta’s fight against the Online News Act may not really be all about Canada.

Driving the news: The companies’ goal in trying to quash a new Canadian law that requires them to pay news publishers for linking to their content is to prevent it from setting a global precedent that will embolden other nations to do the same, industry experts told Bloomberg.

Getting ahead in the green transition doesn’t come cheap… just ask the government.

What happened: The federal and Ontario governments convinced automaker Stellantis and electronics company LG to resume the construction of their NextStar electric vehicle (EV) battery factory in Windsor. All it took was promising up to $15 billion in subsidies.

The feds just told Meta, “Oh, you wanna be withholding? Well, two can play at that game.” 

What’s happening: The federal government has suspended its advertising on Facebook and Instagram—worth about $10 million annually—in response to Meta’s decision to block Canadian news content for Canadian users once the Online News Act comes into effect.

The world may be ramping up defence spending, but Canada is in no rush to dole out more cash for the military.

Driving the news: Per The Economist, defence spending worldwide increased by nearly 4% in 2022 to over US$2 trillion. Many NATO allies are planning to meet or exceed the alliance’s target of spending 2% of their total economic output on defence.

Basic income—unconditional cash transfers to people—has been pitched as the solution to so many of our problems. Eliminating poverty, sparking entrepreneurship, empowering people to pursue their passions—it could do it all, its boosters claim.

But not everyone is so optimistic about the idea. Lindsay Tedds is an associate professor at the University of Calgary’s Department of Economics, and co-authored the book Basic Income and a Just Society: Policy Choices for Canada’s Social Safety Net. This week she sat down with us to make her case. 

Canada’s smallest province is getting bigger. Prince Edward Island (PEI) will be home to 200,000 people by 2030, according to projections released by its provincial government. 

Why it matters: The experience of Canada’s smallest province is a perfect case study of the growing pains that come with a rapidly increasing population.