📈 Whopper wiretap

Good morning. Last month, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency slapped Loblaw-owned Superstore with a $10,000 fine for mislabelling an item as a "Product of Canada." Now, CBC News has found the fraudulently Canadian product in question was PC brand broccoli slaw. 

It’s like that old saying goes: ‘If you’re faking the slaw, you’re breaking the law.’

Okay, that’s not actually a saying. But in light of recent events, maybe it should be.

Today’s reading time is 5 minutes.

Markets: Canada’s main stock index hit new highs yesterday on higher gold prices and two more big bank earnings beats, courtesy of RBC and TD. All of Canada’s top six lenders surpassed analysts’ expectations for last quarter and posted broad-based revenue growth.

B.C. opened the door for more American nurses last year, and they didn’t hesitate to step in.

Driving the news: Since introducing a streamlined licensing process last April, B.C. has approved 1,028 U.S.-trained nurses to work in the province. For comparison, that number was just 127 in 2024. The impetus for the rush isn’t entirely Donald Trump… but also, yeah, it’s mostly Trump.

Why it matters: Healthcare professionals are always in demand, with a recent report finding that nursing vacancies in Canada had tripled between 2018 and 2023 to over 41,000. While the influx of Yankee nurses doesn’t solve the underlying issues of the shortages — like devastating burnout rates and disputes over pay — it can help paper over the cracks.

Big picture: Data suggests that more Americans, not just nurses, are looking for a new home. According to new calculations from the Brookings Institution, the U.S. lost a net 150,000 people to migration last year. It’s hard to know for sure, but this could have been the first time more people moved away from the U.S. than to it since the Great Depression.—QH

Ottawa signs new defence pact with South Korea. The two countries agreed to a new defence deal that includes exchanging classified military intelligence and the procurement of defence equipment. Since taking office last year, Prime Minister Mark Carney has signed a number of defence deals with allies like Germany, Poland, and Indonesia, while also committing to the biggest increase in defence spending since World War II. (CTV News)

Netflix is walking away from its bid for Warner Bros. The streamer is abandoning its attempt to buy the Hollywood studio, saying the deal was “no longer financially attractive" at the price offered by Paramount. Netflix backing out of the bidding war clears an obstacle to Paramount to buying the studio, but that’s also not a done deal — California’s Attorney General says his office has now opened an investigation into Paramount’s proposal. (BBC)

Montreal travel tech company Stay22 is cashing in on travel influencers. The Canadian tech firm, which sells tech for online travel influencers to get paid for bookings they promote, has raised $122 million in a new funding round. Stay22 has become one of Canada’s fastest-growing tech companies, doubling in size in each of the last two years. (Globe and Mail)

📡 What else is on our radar: 

A.Y.K. International is purchasing insolvent tights innovator SRTX. In an all-Montreal, all-pantyhose deal, the maker of legacy brands Secret and Silk will acquire the company behind Sheertex tights. SRTX had a hit product with its tights, which garnered fans thanks to its rip-resistant material, but struggled to lower production costs. Last year, it went through two CEOs and a sizable layoff round before the board put it up for sale in October. 

Why it matters: While it’s kinda nice that SRTX is staying in Canada with a company that plans to invest in its growth, it’s a disheartening fate for a brand that was once hailed as “revolutionary” and garnered serious investments from both federal and provincial sources. If the deal goes through, a company that once had 350 employees will have fewer than 10.

Hundreds of Burger Kings are about to get an Orwellian makeover. 

What happened: Burger King is piloting a new AI assistant called Patty that will live in employees’ headsets, monitoring their work, answering meal prep questions, and even evaluating whether they are being friendly enough in their customer interactions. 

Why it matters: From fast food drive-thrus to Fortune 500 companies, worker surveillance has become increasingly brazen. With tech that now monitors every minute of the workday, employees are under pressure to justify each click, brief pause, and interaction in their day.

Zoom out: Canada’s laws around surveillance tools aren’t strong. Many provinces don’t have specific rules, while others simply require employers to notify workers of the tech being used and get their consent. That isn’t a particularly meaningful safeguard when refusing to grant that consent could spark professional blowback. 

Our take: It’s one thing to make sure employees aren’t watching YouTube all day, but these AI tools go well beyond that. Some software vendors are now pitching tools that can monitor employees' communications and detect their tone, attitude, and loyalty to the company.—LA

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🇨🇦 $1.55 billion. Funding that Ottawa is committing over the next year to improve the enforcement of Jordan’s Principle, a directive adopted in 2007 to ensure First Nations children have equal access to public services like healthcare and education. In 2024, there was a backlog of 140,000 Jordan's Principle applications for support, with 25,000 of those labelled urgent.

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