Ontario is hoping the promise of less time sitting in the classroom will convince more students to swap their notebooks for hard hats. 

What happened: The Ontario government is launching a fast-track program in the fall designed to get more high school students into the trades, offering Grade 11 and 12 students the option of spending 80% of their would-be class time in apprenticeships.

Many of us feel like we work too many hours, though almost none of us are told this by the federal government — unless you’re an international student, that is.

What happened: Starting in September, international post-secondary students will be able to work no more than 24 hours a week off-campus. 

 On this week’s episode of Free Lunch by The Peak, we sat down with Tyler Meredith to talk about how the federal government puts its budgets together. Before becoming a partner at Meredith Boessenkool Policy Advisors, Tyler was one of the driving forces behind no fewer than six federal budgets and served as the top economic advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and two finance ministers. 

No one gets stoked about taxes, but that doesn't mean it’s all doom and gloom in the tech sector right now.

Some parents might be less than thrilled when they find out their kid's perfect grade on a biology midterm was more of a participation trophy. 

Driving the news: A group of grade 12 students at Ontario’s St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School walked out of their biology and business midterms with perfect grades as the school board grapples with a teacher shortage that has left classes without full-time educators.

New laws in B.C. regarding pet custody are further proof that pets really are the new kids.

Driving the news: A provincial court ordered that custody of a golden retriever named Stella must be split week-to-week between her two owners who had broken up. It’s a landmark first ruling under new B.C. laws designating pets as family members, not property, in separation cases.

The feds are hoping Canada’s top pension funds will consider spending a little more of their ~$2 trillion in assets at home. 

Driving the news: Ottawa is enlisting former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz to spearhead a new working group tasked with getting Canadian pension funds to invest more in their own backyard, particularly in housing and infrastructure.

The government’s plan to support Canada’s innovation sector is less about opening its own wallet and more about sparking investments from elsewhere.

With so much spending already announced, we were left wondering what the feds would actually end up unveiling at this year’s budget meeting. 

The answer? A new tax to pay for all those plans, obviously.     

What happened: The federal government unveiled its 2024-25 budget yesterday. The biggest news to come out of it was an increase in the capital gains tax inclusion rate. Starting June 25, gains over $250,000 will be taxed at a two-thirds rate, up from one-half. 

Everybody knows that Canada needs more healthcare workers, more homebuilders, and… more French speakers? 

Driving the news: Since revamping the Express Entry system for skilled immigration last year, 19,700 potential immigrants have been invited to apply for permanent residency based on their French skills, more than any other selection category, per a Globe and Mail analysis.