🚘 15,000+. Number of Uber drivers in North America who have signed up to rent Teslas through Uber’s partnership with car rental company Hertz, as high gas prices push more rideshare drivers towards EVs. 

🏡 150+. Number of real estate-related tech startups that have been founded in Canada over the past two years. Huh, almost as if there was some sort of wildly competitive housing market people wanted to cash in on in some way.

🤑 $835 million. Paycheque (in USD) including stock options collected by The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green in 2021, making him the highest-paid CEO of any public company, per The New York Times. He must have sold a lot of desks! (We have zero clue what The Trade Desk is). 

• What’s the value in saving money during times of high inflation? 
   
• Scientists at Dyson are hard at work solving one of our most pressing problems: how to remove pet hair. 
   
• Five negotiation tips from an FBI agent.
   
• You should read this list of edible things that you probably shouldn’t be eating.
   
• Watch: Unearthed clip from the 1960s shows Brits defending drunk driving before it became illegal in the UK—it was a different time!

The federal government is “doubling down” on its supercluster innovation program, slapping on a fresh coat of paint and publicly reasserting its importance in driving Canadian innovation.   

Catch-up: In 2017, the feds started funding innovation through five ‘superclusters’—if you haven’t heard that term before, it’s not a fibre-heavy cereal, but a collection of companies, academic institutions, and not-for-profits devoted to developing five emerging sectors: digital technology, protein industries, advanced manufacturing, AI-powered supply chains, and ocean industries. 

• Superclusters were supposed to help Canadian companies and innovators speed up R&D and commercialize new technologies.

What happened: The program suffered a crisis of confidence this year when it received significantly less new funding than it requested ($750 million over six years, as opposed to $1.5 billion). 

But on Monday, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne gave a vote of confidence to the initiatives (now called Global Innovation Clusters)  and encouraged leaders to “do more” to innovate and commercialize intellectual property (IP).

• Despite slow growth due to the pandemic, the government pointed to 23,877 jobs and over 800 IP assets created by the program as evidence of its success. The Toronto Star noted that the program met or exceeded most targets set by the feds, and attracted over $1 billion in matching private investments.
   
• And some pretty cool things have come out of it, ranging from advanced tech for mapping the ocean floor to mushroom-harvesting robots.

Yes, but: Critics have been quick to point out that the program has no mechanism in place to stop the longstanding problem of foreign buyers scooping up Canadian-made IP.

• Former Blackberry CEO Jim Balsillie argued the supercluster program is fundamentally flawed and measures success by the volume of IP rather than the value of that IP to the Canadian economy (which he says is minimal).

Why it matters: Every country is looking for ways to boost growth through innovation, and there’s some evidence from others abroad that supercluster-style programs can bear fruit. It’s probably too soon to tell whether Canada’s attempt has been worth the investment or not, but the government is committed to seeing it through.

Türkiye said it will support Sweden and Finland’s bids to join NATO after signing a joint agreement yesterday—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously denied the countries’ bids since they had refused to extradite Kurdish rebels back to Türkiye.  

The hiring slowdown trend continues to tear through Canadian tech with several notable companies including Hootsuite and Canada Drives telling The Globe and Mail they have slashed projected hiring plans.

Horgan retires: BC’s Premier John Horgan is stepping down from the position, announcing his retirement at a press conference yesterday citing…    

Passing gas: New rules requiring energy companies to produce gas and diesel that is >3.5% less carbon intense have been delayed from the end of this year to the end of 2023 when the first compliance checks will start taking place. 

Party poopers: In a move that the Beastie Boys would say infringes on your rights, Airbnb has permanently banned parties from all properties on its platform, turning what was once a temporary pandemic safety policy into a general rule. 

Cheaters never prosper: Accounting giant Ernst & Young must pay the SEC the largest fine it has ever levied against an auditor (US$100 million) after finding that hundreds of EY auditors cheated on their certified public accounting (CPA) exams. 

US asset management behemoth Blackstone made it clear it has no interest in investing in single-family homes as part of its expansion into Canadian real estate, but the same can’t be said for other big investors. 

What happened: Back in May, Blackstone announced plans to open a new Toronto office and diversify its portfolio of Canadian properties, leading to speculation that it would snap up single-family homes to turn into rental properties

• This sparked fears that Blackstone and other US funds would worsen the housing shortage and drive up prices even further.

Would-be homebuyers can breathe a sigh of relief. Blackstone’s head of real estate for the Americas said they have no plans to buy single-family homes in Canada because there are “just more interesting places to deploy capital.” Instead, the company will focus on investing in industrial warehouses, office buildings, and hotels.

Yes, but: Just because Blackstone’s not interested, doesn’t mean other institutional investors aren’t. The Globe and Mail’s Brian Milner pointed out how interest from big investors like asset managers and pension funds in single-family homes has been steadily growing in Canada following similar trends in the US and Europe. 

• In the past, these investors would have stuck to apartment buildings, but consistent returns and long-term appreciation have drawn strong interest in single-family properties while new price-tracking technology has made it easier for companies to find deals in local markets. 

Why it matters: To make housing affordable again the country needs to build 5.8 million houses by 2030, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, but it won’t do much good for individual buyers if large swaths of them are taken off the market by institutional investors who can afford to outbid the rest of us.

“Old age, good health, and cheer bless all the good folk here” reads the inscription above the entrance to this 16-room historic home in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Taking a look at the place, it’s not hard to see why anyone living here would feel that way. 

Sitting on 380 acres, this marble-walled, copper-roofed mansion is the definition of idyllic; frozen in time from the 1930s, but with modern amenities like heated floors and a house-wide built-in music system. The crowning jewel: The drawing room, which is filled with gorgeous carpentry and bookcases as far as the eye can see. 

Check out the listing and indulge in classical East Coast elegance.