Menu Close
Employees are often shocked to find their dream job involves menial tasks and drudgery. While they need to manage their expecations, employers should also be more honest about the true nature of the jobs they’re hiring for. (Unsplash)

When your dream job is a nightmare

Toxic workplaces and abusive bosses can make our lives miserable and seriously erode our physical and mental well-being. As we return to the office following the COVID-19 pandemic, time may be up for bad bosses. (Pixabay)

Toxic bosses should face #MeToo-type reprisals

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that many jobs can be performed remotely. It’s time to consider moving federal goverment positions into other regions of the country. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Is it time to move Ottawa out of Ottawa?

Intake workers assist visitors at an immigrant and refugee vaccine clinic set up by Global Medic in Toronto in April. Research suggests racialized immigrant women earn less money than other groups, regardless of how much training, education or networking they do. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Racialized immigrant women earn less

Hilton Metrotown hotel employees hold signs and posters during a news conference outside the hotel in Burnaby, B.C., in February 2021. The employees’ union urged prospective guests not to stay at the hotel as a job action after dozens of workers were laid off. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Laid-off workers feel lost sense of control

The family business is among the most common organizations in the world. But figuring out succession plans is rife with complications. (Unsplash)

Securing the future of the family business

As aging parents wonder about the future of the family businesses they founded, four succession strategies could help.
The science behind trying to build the perfect plant-based meat is full of trial and error and a multidisciplinary team. (Shutterstock)

How scientists make plant-based foods meaty

Appearance, texture and flavour are the three main challenges food scientists face when developing a convincing plant-based meat.
The shifting balance between journalism and PR is fueling a lack of trust in the news. That’s bad for everyone. (Unsplash/Camilo Jimenez)

Fixing the ties between journalism and PR

Public relations and journalism have always existed in an uneasy balance. Social media and low revenues are shifting that balance in favour of PR, creating a lack of trust in the news.
Banks must innovate to include financially vulnerable people. Abugrafie/shutterstock

Nigeria: Progress with financial inclusion

Banks can deploy artificial intelligence to create an understanding of current and prospective consumers and develop products that meet their needs.
The unique properties of clays make them suitable for a wide variety of applications. (Shutterstock)

From wines to mines, clay is key

Throughout human history, clay has played a role in many different industries. Its unique properties make it suited for a wide applications in widely ranging industries.
A woman walks past the Bank of Canada building in Ottawa in September 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The Bank of Canada needs to do more to help Canadians

Unconventional policies can be used to alleviate — instead of exacerbate — inequality, something Canadians are clamouring for. The Bank of Canada needs to rediscover its former innovation zeal.
Reduced traffic during lockdowns led to decreases in air pollution in many major cities in Europe. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

How COVID-19 lockdowns improved air quality in some cities

While most areas experienced a reduction in air pollution in response to lockdown measures, other areas saw only small improvements or even an air quality deterioration.
A person is covered by a sheet as a group advocating for provincially mandated paid sick days for workers participates in a ‘die-in’ rally outside Queen’s Park in Toronto, in January 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

COVID-19 & the urgent need for paid sick days

Workers shouldn't have to choose between working while sick and supporting themselves and their families. Post-pandemic, we must learn from our mistakes and take permanent action on paid sick days.
Toronto Raptors forward Chris Boucher fouls Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard during the first half of an NBA basketball game on March 28, 2021 in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Lessons from NBA on COVID-19 return to work

The NBA has largely managed to keep COVID-19 under control. Its success offers four important lessons for organizations on how to return employees to the workplace during and after COVID-19.
The 2020 World Series featured two teams at opposite ends of the salary spectrum: the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. The richer Dodgers were the winners. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Pandemic Moneyball? How COVID-19 has affected baseball odds

Twenty years ago, a few small-market Major League Baseball teams used advanced analytics as a secret weapon to compete with large-market teams. But the Moneyball effect is gone now.
People in masks shop for essential items at Costco in Mississauga, Ont., on April 18, 2021. Costco insists its in-store customers wear masks even if they claim exemptions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

COVID-19 retail: No shoes, no shirt, no mask — no service?

Retailers are grappling with anti-maskers during the pandemic. That's because of the complicated relationship between businesses and customers when it comes to accommodating health conditions.
Canada should take cues from Québec on how it incorporates small businesses. (François Gha/Unsplash)

Embracing Québec’s incorporation system

The federal government should embrace Québec's simplified incorporation model for small businesses. With some minor refinements, Québec’s regime can and should be deployed across the country
ESG rankings and lists aren’t often entirely reliable for consumers or investors wanting to make decisions on companies they buy from or invest in. Appolinary Kalashnikova/Unsplash

Sustainability rankings don’t always identify sustainable companies

Some companies rank high on some lists that measure environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, and rank near the bottom on other lists. Which rankings should we trust?
COVID-19 lockdown measures have been much harder on those with pre-existing anxiety issues or in lower-income demographics. (Unsplash)

COVID-19 harder on those who already had anxiety and financial issues

Canadians who had poor finances and health were more likely to report financial stress across the first several months of the pandemic.
Part of Gros Morne National Park in western Newfoundland is seen in June 2017. Tourism is critically important for many areas of rural Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

No ‘one size fits all’ COVID-19 recovery

Misconceptions of rural realities can have serious implications. Better use of data can help avoid this and lead to policies that will help rural communities recover in the post-pandemic.
A food delivery worker wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of COVID-19 is framed by a large public art installation while riding a bike in Vancouver in November 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Working with restaurants on a no-fee delivery app

Food delivery apps are here to stay. That means governments must support restaurant association efforts to create a no-commission-fee delivery app option — during the pandemic and beyond.
Nike ad in New York in 2018, showing former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick after his 2016 kneeling protest. Could a corporation sell an act like Kaepernick’s ‘kneel’ as an NFT? (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

NFT art: Capitalizing on protest

When we see the high prices some are paying for NFT art, we must assume more performances, and potentially, acts of protest, could circulate as NFTs.
The infrastructure gap has forced Indigenous people to think outside the box, leverage their own funds. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Indigenous communities should dictate spending

While investments are important, what's more important is the process and mechanisms through which Indigenous people access funding.

Editor's Picks

More