The Peak Daily

Canada is rallying middle powers and developing countries around a new coalition aimed at strengthening cooperation on security, trade, AI, and global challenges — the latest step in Mark Carney’s push to build alliances that don’t revolve around Washington. Plus, Greek discount retailer Jumbo is opening its first Canadian store in Vaughan, joining a wave of international bargain chains betting th...

Newfoundland’s film and television industry is booming as Netflix’s Below becomes the latest Hollywood production to shoot in the province, bringing jobs, local spending, and the potential for a major tourism boost. Plus, Parliament returns with the Carney government preparing to fast-track major projects and overhaul federal labour laws — ambitious moves that could accelerate investment while pro...

Mark Carney lays out a bold vision for a new Canada–EU alliance — from seamless digital trade and critical minerals cooperation to shared AI safety protocols and sovereign compute. We’ll break down what “sovereignty” really means in this context, why Europe seems newly open to deeper partnership, and how Washington could respond. Then, daylight saving time edges closer to extinction: Manitoba join...

Canada’s AI champion Cohere moves to scale up and stake its claim in “sovereign AI” by finalizing merger terms with Germany’s Aleph Alpha — a deal that could reshape the AI landscape. Plus, Salesforce launches an AI shopping agent as “agentic” commerce heats up and brands race to get recommended by chatbots. Also in the Big Picture: talk of Canada becoming the EU’s first “associate member,” the US...

In today’s episode of The Peak Daily , Jay breaks down Ottawa’s new “Productivity Mega Deduction” and what it could mean for major projects like pipelines, mines, data centres, and infrastructure. Then, Airbnb launches a $250M fund to help stalled multi-family rentals cross the finish line — amid ongoing debate over short-term rentals’ impact on housing affordability. Plus, in The Big Picture: Can...

The first day of Canada’s Investment Summit brought a wave of new commitments from banks, investors, and businesses, offering early signs that Ottawa’s push to unlock as much as $1 trillion in capital may be gaining momentum — even if most of the pledges aren’t binding. Plus, Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez and a Chinese state-backed newspaper are pushing back against calls from Silicon Valley’s biggest AI...

AI’s biggest companies are pledging to slow the development of frontier models and open their systems to independent evaluators, an unprecedented attempt to keep increasingly powerful technology from outrunning the industry’s ability to control it. Plus, Mark Carney’s Canada Investment Summit will pitch more than 160 energy and infrastructure projects to hundreds of global investors, testing Ottaw...

Canada’s Supreme Court is weighing whether judges can use alternative remedies instead of throwing out criminal cases when trials take too long, a change that could prevent thousands of cases from being stayed while still protecting defendants’ Charter rights. Plus, Anthropic says it blocked users — including state actors — from using its AI tools to develop weapons, spy on dissidents, and researc...

Anthropic researchers are warning that frontier AI systems could pose an existential threat within the next decade, as concerns grow that models are nearing the ability to improve themselves while leading labs remain locked in a race to build them first. Plus, BMO will become the first of Canada’s Big Five banks to offer commission-free stock, options, and ETF trading, a bid to win younger investo...

Canada and the European Union are reportedly preparing a far-reaching new partnership designed to bring them as close as legally possible without Canada joining the bloc, deepening trade, defence, and political ties as Ottawa looks for more reliable alternatives to the U.S. Plus, Canadian students’ math, reading, and science scores have fallen to their lowest levels ever measured by the OECD, with...

Ottawa is spending $4.7 billion on 313 new Via Rail passenger cars, part of a major fleet overhaul aimed at improving reliability and comfort — though freight-train priority and track ownership will continue to cause delays. Plus, Canadian food regulators are investigating an illegal relabelling operation in India after a bag of chips with an English-French label was found in a warehouse raid, rai...

Global bond yields are surging as investors worry about inflation, government debt, and the war in Iran, raising questions about whether bonds can still play their traditional role as the safe foundation of the financial system. Plus, Ontario has issued its first fine under a new anti-scalping law, but SeatGeek’s $25,000 penalty highlights how difficult it is to enforce a ban on ticket resales abo...

Canadian used booksellers are seeing suspicious bulk orders that may be tied to AI companies buying, scanning, and destroying old books for training data, as the industry hunts for human-written text uncontaminated by AI. Plus, Apple alleges OpenAI knowingly hired former employees who stole trade secrets, data, and hardware, a legal fight that could delay OpenAI’s first devices and give Apple more...

John Ternus is taking over as Apple CEO after Tim Cook’s 15-year run, inheriting pressure to restore the company’s reputation for breakthrough innovation as it falls behind in AI and prepares to unveil a foldable iPhone. Plus, Canada’s proposed global defence bank is struggling to win support from major allies, threatening its ability to secure a top credit rating and provide the cheap capital Can...

The U.S. Open is set to bring in as much as US$800 million, but tennis players receive less than 15% of tournament revenue — far below athletes in major team sports — fuelling demands for a bigger share and threats of a future Grand Slam boycott. Plus, OpenAI agents escaped a cybersecurity test and hacked Hugging Face, collaborating in secret, breaking rules, breaching internal systems, and erasin...

Canada is luring dozens of world-leading researchers away from prestigious U.S. institutions with more than $500 million in funding, a talent grab that could help reverse the country’s slide in university rankings and turn more academic breakthroughs into commercial success. Plus, Nvidia has reportedly agreed to buy open-source AI hub Hugging Face for US$12.9 billion, a move that would give the ch...

Loblaw is bringing back country-of-origin labels and tariff markers after backlash from shoppers, as grocers face growing scrutiny over “maple-washing” and consumers look for clearer ways to buy Canadian. Plus, Bill Gates is calling for some jobs to be designated “human reserved” and protected from AI replacement, arguing that certain work should stay human for economic and ethical reasons. And in...

Canada’s federal government has unveiled its retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. alongside $7.5 billion in relief measures for workers and businesses, matching American levies on more than 700 imported goods as the trade war escalates. Plus, Canadian universities are spending more on research but making less from intellectual property, raising fresh questions about why so many campus discoveries...

Trump is threatening to crank tariffs on Canadian autos, auto parts, and steel to 50% in January, a sign the White House is prepared to drag the trade war into the new year after talks with Canada collapsed. Plus, Thomson Reuters has launched its own custom AI model for legal and accounting customers, betting that cheaper, specialized tools can win back enterprise clients from frontier AI labs. An...

Canada-U.S. trade negotiations have collapsed after last-minute American demands, prompting Mark Carney to accuse the U.S. of waging a trade war and setting up retaliatory Canadian tariffs if new duties on exports remain in place. Plus, Walmart is taking another run at fashion with a new in-house women’s clothing line aimed at younger, more affluent shoppers, hoping its massive customer base can t...

Anthropic is hiring in Canada as it looks to build AI data centres here, including an Alberta-based community engagement role meant to win over towns where residents are increasingly wary of the facilities’ costs, noise, emissions, and local impacts. Plus, Canadian banks are tightening employee rules around prediction markets over fears finance workers could use insider information to bet on econo...

Trump is pausing a major tariff hike on Canadian imports after a tentative deal was reached, giving negotiators three more days to hammer out the details — including possible concessions on Keystone XL, autos, dairy, and alcohol. Plus, John Tavares is taking the CRA to court over an $8 million tax bill tied to his Maple Leafs signing bonus, in a case that could make it even harder for Canadian tea...

Meta is defending itself against a landmark lawsuit from 29 U.S. states accusing Facebook and Instagram of harming young users, a case that could bring massive penalties and force a redesign of core social media features. Plus, long-term government bond yields are hitting multi-decade highs as inflation fears, war-driven oil pressures, and rising deficits push up borrowing costs — including in Can...

Movie theatres are “Imax-maxxing” as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey drives a boom in premium-format ticket sales, giving the Canadian large-screen company its strongest stretch in years. Plus, new research finds Russian disinformation farms targeting Albertans with pro-separation propaganda, amplifying a movement that still has limited support but outsized online noise. And in The Big Picture: in...

Volatility Shares wants to launch ETFs that let investors bet on the performance of NHL teams, turning sports fandom into a tradable product that could fit inside registered accounts and blur the line between investing and gambling. Plus, Calgary-based De Havilland is weighing a second production line for Canadair water bombers as demand surges from countries facing worsening wildfires, potentiall...