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Good morning. A scandal is shaking one of the world’s nerdiest pastimes, as Hasbro is accused in a lawsuit of misleading investors about overprinting Magic: The Gathering cards. 

The suit alleges the games giant pumped out a surplus of the cards — one of its best-selling products — to make up for declining sales elsewhere, in turn damaging card scarcity and long-term value. We hope this doesn’t hurt the price of any deck you have tucked away in a binder at your parents’ place.  

Today’s reading time is 6 minutes.

Markets: Canada’s main stock index ticked up ever so slightly yesterday, as investors anxiously awaited the results of today's interest rate decisions from the Bank of Canada and the U.S Federal Reserve.

Canadian tech companies may be starting up at home, but they’re growing up elsewhere. 

Driving the news: A new index from research firm StartupBlink ranked Canada sixth out of 125 countries for ease of launching, operating, and scaling a tech startup. StartupBlink cited Canada’s institutions, digital infrastructure, and high levels of mobility as its keys to success.

Yes, but: This high ranking belies underlying issues in Canada’s startup ecosystem — mainly, brain drain to the No. 1-ranked U.S. A recent study found that in 2024, a paltry 32.4% of startups founded by Canadians that raised more than $1 million were actually based in Canada. 

Why it matters: This slippage is alarming. A decade ago, homegrown talent seemed to be more resistant to the gravitational pull of Silicon Valley. But Canada’s benefits (e.g., healthcare, political stability) no longer seem to outweigh the U.S.’s obvious tax and regulatory perks — and, most importantly, what is arguably the world’s most dynamic tech ecosystem.

What’s next: Things could get worse before they get better. Y Combinator, regarded as the world’s top startup accelerator, recently changed its policy to no longer accept companies domiciled in Canada.—QH.

Chinese sports giant takes a big slice of Puma. Anta Sports is coughing up €1.5 billion to acquire a 29% stake in Puma from the billionaire Pinault family (who are shifting focus to their luxury holdings). The deal allows Anta, which is huge in China and already the world's third-largest sportswear company by revenue, to expand its portfolio of Western brands. (CNBC)

Carney sets the record straight on Trump talk. Prime Minister Mark Carney disputed claims from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that he backtracked on his remarks at Davos in a call with Donald Trump. Carney told reporters that he told Trump directly “I meant what I said in Davos,” and that the two otherwise had a good conversation. (CBC News)

BDC makes first investments under new defence strategy. The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) invested in AI chip startup Irréversible and spacetech startup Canada Rocket Company. They’re the first defence-related investments the Crown investment bank has made since launching a defence investment platform in December. (Globe and Mail) 

Would you pay to use Insta? Meta is hoping so, as the tech giant is reportedly preparing to test paid premium subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp that would unlock special features. (BBC News) 

ICE will be part of U.S.’s Olympic security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be part of the U.S. security detail at the Olympic Winter Games. The mayor of co-host city Milan wasn’t happy, calling ICE “a militia that kills.” (BBC News) 

Chinese AI firm releases another impressive AI model. After roiling the AI market late last year, Moonshot AI released its new open-source Kimi K2.5 model, which matches or beats top competitors in certain benchmarks. (TechCrunch) 

TikTok settles landmark social media addiction lawsuit. The platform followed Snap’s lead and dodged a potentially damaging trial. Meta and YouTube have yet to settle. (Reuters)—QH

🤝 Meet Zechariah Thomas. He’s a a former Canadian hockey player turned entrepreneur who has built a multi-million-dollar brand — Swift Hockey — selling a more affordable hockey stick good enough for the pros to use. Oh yeah, and he started it when he was just 19 with no external funding. We chatted with Zechariah about hockey’s affordability problem, what goes into making a new stick, and entrepreneurship lessons he’s learned along the way.

Give us the elevator pitch for Swift Hockey.

Zechariah Thomas: Swift Hockey is a performance hockey brand built by players, for players. I started it after living the reality of how expensive and inaccessible the sport can be. Our goal is simple: deliver elite-level sticks and gear without the legacy markup, reinvest back into growing the game, and ultimately build a modern sports brand rooted in performance, access, and culture, starting with hockey and expanding beyond it.

Hockey is now the 8th most popular youth sport in Canada, behind soccer, basketball, volleyball, and more. Is affordability the main reason?

ZT: Affordability is a big part of it, but it’s not the only factor. Time commitment, access to ice, and feeling like you belong all matter, too. When a sport feels expensive, exclusive, or intimidating, families opt out early. The challenge, and the opportunity, is making hockey feel more welcoming again, both financially and culturally.

What did the R&D process for your sticks look like?

ZT: We approached R&D the same way players do: test, adjust, repeat. It was months of prototyping, feedback from competitive players, and fine-tuning things like kick point, weight, balance, durability, and puck feel. A stick isn’t just about specs on paper, it’s about confidence. When a player picks it up, it must feel right immediately.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since founding the company at 19?

ZT: Trying to do everything yourself slows you down. Early on, I thought hustle meant never asking for help. The biggest lesson was learning when to delegate, when to listen, and when to trust people who know more than you in certain areas. Growth isn’t about control, it’s about building the right team.

➡️ Read the full Q&A with Zechariah on our website.

Five years after Ottawa’s $10-a-day child-care program launched, parents are still having a hard time finding a daycare spot.

Driving the news: The federal government’s childcare program, which aimed to add 250,000 spaces and bring average childcare costs down to $10 per day by this year, is expected to miss its target for new daycare spaces by ~90,000, according to a new report.

Why it’s happening: The rollout of new childcare spaces has been slowed by a number of factors, from federal funding not keeping pace with operating costs to a lack of interest in building childcare centres in less-profitable, smaller communities.

Why it matters: Expensive childcare is discouraging people from starting families — a third of potential parents in Canada cite the cost of daycare as an important factor in their decision to hold off on having children. Layer in the other costs of kids — totalling $293,000, by one estimate — and it’s not a surprise that Canadians are having fewer babies. 

Big picture: Newcomers account for almost all of Canada’s population growth. With Ottawa’s U-turn on immigration, economists say the declining fertility rate will make it difficult to care for Canada’s rapidly aging population as the share of working-age people shrinks.—LA

🇨🇦 $210 billion. How much the Canadian economy could gain in real GDP by eliminating internal trade barriers, according to a new International Monetary Fund report. In November, the provinces and territories signed a deal to drop trade barriers on most goods, though services — which make up most of the internal trade costs — weren't covered under the pact.

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It’s time to get your game on with today’s mini-crossword and the daily sudoku! 

After that, we invite you to test your espionage skills and play our new game Codebreakers.