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Magnific Wealthsimple launched the first prediction market in Canada in July. At least one critic says such online platforms should be regulated in Canada as gambling rather than investments.

Prospective prophets profit

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026

Investing generally involves a prophetic take on the future.

After all, investors are wagering that asset prices’ values will increase over time.

Yet prediction markets kick prognostication up several notches. These online platforms move beyond just financial assets to an assortment of world events: elections, sporting events and whether the latest blockbuster will break box office records.

At least, that is what the world’s largest prediction market platforms — Polymarket and Kalshi, both based in the United States — offer.

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This composite image shows Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, left, on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, and P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz, right, on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Charlottetown. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

Only two Eastern Canada premiers attend annual conference with New England governors

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Only two Eastern Canada premiers attend annual conference with New England governors

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press 2 minute read 1:41 PM CDT

FREDERICTON - A University of Prince Edward Island political scientist says the decision by most of the country's eastern premiers to skip a cross-border conference is a sign of the times. 

Don Desserud says the current generation of premiers are focused more on practical uses of their time rather than on activities that are more symbolic. 

The chair of political science at UPEI adds the unpredictability caused by the ongoing and escalating trade war between Canada and the U.S. makes it hard for the subnational leaders to get any meaningful work done.

Officials confirmed only the premiers of Nova Scotia and P.E.I. are attending this year’s annual conference of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers, now in its 47th year.

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1:41 PM CDT

Business

AtLRG Architecture A rendering of the south facade of Harbourview Terrace, a 179-unit apartment building scheduled to be completed in June 2028.

$60M, six-storey Harbourview Terrace due to open in June 2028

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Preview

$60M, six-storey Harbourview Terrace due to open in June 2028

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Friday, Aug. 7, 2026

They donned high-vis vests and brandished shovels with gold-coloured blades Friday morning at the ceremonial groundbreaking for a multi-family residential development in northeast Winnipeg.

Concord Projects has started construction of Harbourview Terrace, the inaugural development by two-year-old real estate company Foxhill Properties. Located in North Kildonan at 1820 De Vries Ave., the $60-million, six-storey apartment building will contain 179 units.

Founder and president Frank Koch-Schulte, who runs the company with his wife Alisha, said Foxhill wants to develop and manage properties with integrity.

“This is kind of like my opportunity to try to do things our way, which I feel is a way that keeps tenants in mind,” Koch-Schulte said. “We live in this neighbourhood. We’re very much invested in seeing quality housing go here.”

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Friday, Aug. 7, 2026

Business

President Donald Trump departs after speaking at a roundtable on American mining, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Trump extends Jones Act waiver 90 days for foreign ships moving energy, fertilizers

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Trump extends Jones Act waiver 90 days for foreign ships moving energy, fertilizers

The Associated Press 2 minute read 1:35 PM CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday extended a waiver for 90 days for foreign ships to transport goods, including oil, fertilizers and other fossil fuel products, among U.S. ports.

The president first waived the Jones Act on March 17 so that it would be easier to transport oil and refined fuels among ports, reducing price pressures after the start of the war with Iran.

The latest extension will take effect on August 17 and suggests that the U.S. might be preparing for continued price pressures as the Strait of Hormuz, a primary waterway for shipping oil and natural gas, remains effectively closed because of the war.

Unlike previous extensions, the Pentagon will consult with the Maritime Administration to decide which voyages are exempt from the 1920 law containing the Jones Act. The new waiver will only apply to cargo that are sources of energy and commodities related to agriculture such as fertilizers and soybean oil.

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1:35 PM CDT

Business

NASA's ER-2 Earth Resources aircraft is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — NASA (Mandatory Credit)

NASA aircraft flies high over B.C. wildfires to study pyrocumulonimbus clouds

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

NASA aircraft flies high over B.C. wildfires to study pyrocumulonimbus clouds

The Canadian Press 2 minute read 1:03 PM CDT

CLINTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA - A high-altitude research aircraft from NASA flew over British Columbia's wildfires over the weekend in a bid to better understand weather events generated by large blazes.

Online aviation tracking shows the ER-2 plane flew back and forth over B.C.'s southern Interior more than a dozen times on Saturday on a flight of more than six hours that took off from Great Falls, Mont.

Data from the Flightradar24 website shows the plane spent about four hours at an altitude of 60,000 feet over the Clinton area, where the massive Pear Lake wildfire has been burning, 

It also swung east over Lake Revelstoke before returning to U.S. airspace.

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1:03 PM CDT

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Transportation Safety Board investigators and airport firefighters work at the crash site of Air Canada AC624 at Stanfield International Airport in Halifax on Monday, March 30, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

N.S. court approves $18M class-action settlement in 2015 Air Canada crash landing

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

N.S. court approves $18M class-action settlement in 2015 Air Canada crash landing

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: 2:36 PM CDT

HALIFAX - The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has approved a settlement in the class-action lawsuit involving a crash landing of an Air Canada flight in Halifax more than a decade ago.

Twenty-five of 133 passengers on board Air Canada Flight 624 from Toronto were injured when the airplane struck power lines during a snowstorm at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in March 2015, causing the plane to land about 200 metres short of the runway.

Under the terms of the settlement, Air Canada, Nav Canada, and the Halifax International Airport Authority are to pay a total of $18,075,000 to settle the class action, which includes legal fees and expenses.

Air Canada will pay the bulk of the settlement — more than $15 million, according to case documents. Nav Canada, the country’s air navigation service provider, will pay $2 million while the Halifax International Airport Authority’s share is $1 million. The settlement agreement does not include any admission or finding of liability by the defendants. 

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Updated: 2:36 PM CDT

Business

Quebec Premier Christine Frechette smiles moments before she is sworn in at the legislature in Quebec City on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press

Quebec premier open to allowing U.S. wines on store shelves, with conditions

Thomas Laberge, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Quebec premier open to allowing U.S. wines on store shelves, with conditions

Thomas Laberge, The Canadian Press 2 minute read 12:13 PM CDT

YAMACHICHE - Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette says she's open to allowing U.S. wines to return to liquor store shelves, but not at any price.

Fréchette says that the province first wants to see gains on the trade front.

As an example, the premier says she'd like to see reductions in tariff barriers for key sectors such as forestry, aluminum, and manufacturing.

The Quebec government directed its liquor board to stop selling U.S. products last year in retaliation for earlier rounds of tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump's government.

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12:13 PM CDT

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A forklift moves a container around a freight terminal, in St. John's, Sunday, June 25, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Ottawa to rebate $100M in freight costs for shipping steel across Canada

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Ottawa to rebate $100M in freight costs for shipping steel across Canada

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 12:19 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Ottawa plans to slash the cost of shipping steel domestically over the next year in a bid to help Canadian producers hit hard by tariffs.

Transportation Minister Steven MacKinnon was in Hamilton on Monday to announce a $100-million rebate plan to cover half of the freight costs for sending eligible steel products across the country by rail or ship.

The relief is meant to encourage companies that use steel in their manufacturing processes to turn to domestic suppliers rather than rely on the United States and other foreign suppliers.

“Canadians want to buy Canadian products. Canadians want their governments to buy Canadian products. Canadian businesses want to use more Canadian materials," MacKinnon said. "And our government wants to support that.”

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Updated: 12:19 PM CDT

Environment

Katie Byun holds up a compostable knife, which was made with plastic made from plants, that was starting to break down after about two months in a home composting test bin, at CJ Biomaterials, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Woburn, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Traditional plastic forks shed harmful microplastics. Plastic created from sugar is an alternative

Jennifer Mcdermott, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Traditional plastic forks shed harmful microplastics. Plastic created from sugar is an alternative

Jennifer Mcdermott, The Associated Press 7 minute read 8:02 AM CDT

WOBURN, Mass. (AP) — At a Massachusetts lab, pebble-sized pellets are transformed into forks and films that won't leave persistent microplastics in the environment.

These are bioplastic pellets. CJ Biomaterials ferments sugar to make plant-based polymers that microbes will consume. These alternatives to traditional plastics made of fossil fuels are seen by some as one of many solutions needed to confront global plastic pollution.

At the company's Woburn research facility, lab technicians recently poured pellets into a molding machine to make forks. The test forks were thin enough for home composting, though too bendy for stabbing a steak. Other batches have been rigid, similar to a typical plastic fork. The technicians melted pellets to roll out flexible films for food packaging, like a bag for baby carrots. The film was quite strong but not stretchy like cling wrap.

They are figuring out how their biopolymers can make products with attributes similar to conventional plastics, but that can go in a composting bin instead of a trash can. Forks and films are breaking down in the lab's compost bin. Straws that were added are long gone. A recently tossed-in knife showed pitting on the surface as bacteria colonized it, starting to consume the material.

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8:02 AM CDT

Business

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board office, in Toronto, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Ontario Teachers’ earns 9.5 per cent net return for first half of 2026

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Ontario Teachers’ earns 9.5 per cent net return for first half of 2026

The Canadian Press 1 minute read 7:55 AM CDT

TORONTO - The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board says it earned a six-month net return of 9.5 per cent for the first half of 2026, with net investment income of $26.6 billion.

The fund's 12-month net return was 14.5 per cent.

The pension fund manager says net assets totalled $303.2 billion at June 30, up $23.8 billion from the end of last year.

Ontario Teachers' chief executive Jo Taylor says the total fund return was ahead of target.

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7:55 AM CDT

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