Let a hundred qubits bloom

Good morning. Still looking for a gift for the special person in your life who has everything? Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni might have that one-of-a-kind item you’re looking for. 

Meloni is regifting 270 items from various foreign dignitaries in a charity auction. Potential lots include a tea set from Hungary, watercolour paintings from Moldova, and — the one we have our eyes on — a statuette of Argentine President Javier Milei wielding a chainsaw. 

Today’s reading time is 6 minutes. 

Markets: Major indexes were down slightly yesterday as investors waited on the U.S. jobs report and tech stocks slid, led by Broadcom (down 5.6% on the day) and Oracle (down 15.9% in the past week).

If there’s one thing more painful than seeing Canada lose to the Americans in hockey, it’s seeing promising Canadian companies pull up stakes and move south of the border. 

The federal government is trying to avoid that fate with Canada’s nascent quantum computing industry. 

What happened: Ottawa is launching a Canadian Quantum Champions Program that will direct up to $23 million each to four leading Canadian quantum computing firms: Anyon Systems, Nord Quantique, Photonic, and Xanadu Quantum Technologies.

Why it’s happening: For tech talent and businesses, the lure of the American market, with better salaries, more customers and the world’s most robust startup ecosystem, can be impossible to resist. One B.C.-based pioneer in the quantum space, D-Wave, already made the jump in 2023. Allocating nearly $100 million to the sector is a sign that Ottawa is serious about keeping those companies that remain headquartered in Canada.

Why it matters: Quantum computing could — emphasis on could — one day be a transformational technology, leveraging tiny particles to perform massive calculations that would take thousands of years or longer with traditional computers. 

Yes, but: With practical applications of quantum computers still a distant prospect, this funding is very much a bet on the future — don’t expect to see Canada’s quantum industry become an engine of our economy any time soon.—TS

Inflation was flat in November, but grocery prices jumped. Headline inflation for November was 2.2%, unchanged from the prior month. Below the surface, there were some big swings. Gasoline and child care prices were down. Food prices rose 4.7% year over year, the fastest pace recorded since December 2023. The prices of beef and coffee both surged (17.7% and 27.8%, respectively), a devastating blow to those of us who love a good steak and eggs diner breakfast. (Statistics Canada)

The federal government approved Anglo American’s takeover of Teck Resources, clearing a major hurdle for the US$20-billion deal to close. (Bloomberg)

The maker of the Roomba declared bankruptcy. iRobot, the company that pioneered the robotic vacuum cleaner with the introduction of the Roomba in 2002, has filed for bankruptcy. The company took on a mountain of debt to finance its operations while European antitrust regulators investigated (and eventually scuttled) Amazon’s bid to acquire it. (BNN Bloomberg)

Canada’s housing market slump continues. Canada's real estate market had another down month in November, with national home sales dropping 11% since last year and average prices falling 4% to $674,800. Sellers are cutting prices to close deals before year-end, with Vancouver, Toronto, and Southwestern Ontario seeing the steepest drops. Meanwhile, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts were up nearly 10% since October. (CREA)

The EU will scrap its ban on combustion engines. Under the original plan, carmakers would have been forced to end production of all combustion-engine vehicles by 2035. The new plan allows for a limited number to continue to be made. (Financial Times)

Ontario is planning new casinos for Niagara Falls. The provincial government is aiming to attract 25 million annual tourists to the area with a new theme park, luxury hotel, new casinos, and an “observation wheel.” Our first note: “Ferris wheel” sounds way more fun than “observation wheel.” (CTV News)

Canopy Growth will buy MTL Cannabis in a deal valued at $125 million. The cannabis sector has been surging lately on the possibility that the U.S. will reclassify the drug. (The Canadian Press)

Tesla is testing robotaxis with no safety driver in Austin. It’s a critical step toward launching a planned robotaxi service. (TechCrunch)

Rob Reiner’s son was arrested on murder charges in connection with the killing of his parents. (NBC News)

These efforts vary from place to place. Some organizations try short-term programs or small perks, while others focus on decisions that improve the daily experience of work.

The Peak and Alan are recognizing leaders who have taken this work seriously through Canada’s Workplace Health Leaders list. The goal is to highlight professionals who have strengthened workplace health in clear and practical ways.

We are looking for HR and people leaders who have:

If someone comes to mind, we would like to hear about them.

Nominations are open now.

Canadian editors are in a dictionary dispute with the Carney government.

Driving the news: Editors Canada, a professional association of Canadian editors and linguists, sent an open letter to Mark Carney asking the PM to use Canadian English spelling in federal documents, instead of the similar, but pointedly different, British English spelling. 

Catch-up: Canadian English is a hodgepodge, developed by taking spellings from both our colonial motherland and our next-door neighbour. This is why we spell colour with a ‘u’ and centre with an ‘re,’ as the Brits do. But it’s also why we use “encyclopedia” and “jail” like the Yanks instead of the British versions “encyclopaedia” and “gaol” (which is a horrific spelling).

Why it matters: The change is reportedly a direct order from Carney, an Oxford grad who is married to a Brit and governed the Bank of England. The potential rationale might be to remove U.S. influence, but this presupposes that being more British is somehow the same as being more Canadian.

Our take: Editors Canada argues that the weird quirks in Canadian spelling aren’t a sign of American dominance, but a wholly unique signifier that is all Canada’s own. We’re inclined to agree.—QH

What they’re saying: “Like slime, sludge, and muck, slop has the wet sound of something you don’t want to touch. Slop oozes into everything.” That’s what Merriam-Webster’s editors had to say about “slop”, its word of the year for 2025. Merriam-Webster’s definition: “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” 

Why it matters: Slop content had a breakout year in 2025 and there are signs everywhere that it will only continue to grow, from Disney’s deal with OpenAI to the country music charts. That said, a pushback feels inevitable, and the creation of some slop content has started to slow. One recent study found that AI-generated articles now outnumber human-written articles online, but that the proportion of AI pieces has actually plateaued since May 2024.

💸 68%. Share of global CEOs who plan to spend even more on AI in 2026, per a Teneo survey of more than 350 heads of publicly traded companies. This despite the fact that less than 50% of these CEOs said the return on AI projects had so far exceeded their cost.

Kick things up a notch with today’s mini-crossword! 

Then, for a little extra fun, try out our new daily sudoku (we’re still beta testing this one, so your feedback is appreciated).