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The Globe and Mail •

How to make small talk, according to a barista

Chatting with strangers, acquaintances or even co-workers can feel awkward and uncomfortable if it’s something you aren’t used to. But for Jenn Wingfield, the 28-year-old head barista at Café Goodluck in Dartmouth, N.S., making small talk has become second nature.

In this instalment of Everyday Experts – a series of conversations with Canadians offering their advice on daily life – Wingfield shares her tips on the art of small talk.

How did you get into this line of work?

I used to work in th...
The Globe and Mail •

With a budget of $550,000, what home did this Red Deer couple buy?

Derek and Jordanna Gibeault first met in 2017, but it wasn’t until 2023 that they reconnected and began dating. They had both recently left relationships – and homes that they owned with their exes – and were living out of separate Airbnbs. At the time, Derek, who works as an oil field electrician, was sent to work sites all over Alberta for weeks at a time and was living between Edmonton and Calgary while Jordanna was based in Red Deer.

By May, 2023, Jordanna, a realtor, purchased a five-bedro...
The Globe and Mail •

She makes chili oil. He’s an architect. They threw a disco-themed pizza party

In our new Weddings series, Canadian couples tell us how they went from first dates to walking down the aisle.

Alex Nankivell, 33, grew up in Ottawa but moved to Sydney, Australia, in 2015 to get his master’s in architecture. After graduating, he stayed in the city, where he ran in the same social circles as Sydney-born human resources professional Nicola Scott, also 33. Despite attending the same house parties and music festivals, the two didn’t interact much for a few years.

“I thought she w...

Stop the impulse buy: How to spend less at Costco Canada | The Get | Neo Financial™

Published on November 2, 2026 · 6 min readFor this week’s Reality Cheque column, we’re looking at the myth that shopping at Costco always results in savings, and sharing some expert tips on saving more.Canadians love Costco for its money-saving deals. But sometimes it can do too good of a job getting you to buy, leading you to spend more than you anticipate. I’m not a card-carrying member myself, but I’ll join my mom or my sister, who are members, on their Costco runs a few times a year. We’ve m...
Canadian Grocer •

How Vanessa Grondin built fast-growing healthy snack brand Henri Nutrition

Vanessa Grondin stopped by a local grocery store in Quebec City at the end of 2023 to buy snacks for her two children, aged seven and one, ahead of a family trip to Florida, but she was disappointed by the products available in the snack aisle. “The offerings hadn’t changed much since 20 years ago,” Grondin says. “Even though there were a lot of products on the shelves, there was nothing I wanted to buy.” That got Grondin thinking about developing her own snack products and which health attribut...
The Local •

The Young Progressives Hoping to Unseat Vincent Crisanti in Etobicoke North

On a windy but warm Thursday afternoon in October, Chloe Brown is going door to door with two volunteers at the easternmost corner of Etobicoke North, at Kipling and Steeles. It is a deeply suburban part of the ward, where long stretches of detached post-war homes are broken up by vast commercial plazas. As she knocks, it is mostly seniors who answer, or no one at all. Brown, with her work cut out for her, is undeterred. She says she has become adept at leaving what she calls “voicemails” at doo...
The Margin •

Boomers are selling their businesses to the nicest bidder

After working in public relations for 20 years, Aisha Dhalla had enough of the grind. Feeling burnt out, she left her director role in 2022 and moved from Toronto to the small community of Enniskillen, an hour east of the city. Three years later, in 2025, she set out to buy a business. “I really pictured myself as an owner-operator, not just a CEO-type,” Dhalla says. She wanted something that would play to her strengths in marketing and PR. Dhalla considered a few businesses for sale – an interi...
The Globe and Mail •

A family looks for just enough space in Niagara Falls

Dhana Dias immigrated from her native Brazil to Toronto in 2016. Three years later, in 2019, she met fellow Brazilian Ronald Augusto, a 41-year-old data analyst, through Toronto’s Brazilian community. In 2021, the two became roommates, sharing an apartment near Wellesley Station before their friendship evolved into romance. Ms. Dias, 39, became pregnant, and just before their son, Max, was born, the couple moved to a larger two-bedroom condo in Humber Bay Shores, which they rented for $2,600 a m...
The Globe and Mail •

How smart, wearable technology is helping seniors live better

Aging can take a heavy toll on the human body, especially alongside degenerative or chronic disease.

While tools like walkers and hearing aids have been commonplace for decades, a new wave of assistive and wearable technology is emerging to encourage independent living, overcome mobility challenges and help seniors age more comfortably.

Here are a few Canadian innovations that caught our attention.

Mark Elias was studying structural engineering at the University of Toronto in the early 2010s...
Canadian Grocer •

Four things to know about beef tallow

Beef tallow is a hard white or yellowish cooking fat. It’s made by removing, simmering and clarifying the fat tissue that surrounds a cow’s kidneys and loins. Reportedly used as a cooking oil as early as fourth-century Rome, it was a popular household cooking ingredient for much of the 20th century. Today, it’s used for deep-frying, roasting, as an ingredient and in non-food applications such as candles, soaps and skincare. It’s even used to coat cast-iron pans and grills.As saturated fat concer...
Be Giant •

This new mRNA vaccine could better protect against the flu

​​​Traditional flu vaccines have been around for more than 80 years. Their efficacy, however, fluctuates year to year, which means Canadians are still falling ill at high rates. ​​An average of more than 10,000 hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths occur in Canada every year related to the flu.In Quebec alone, the 2024 influenza season is estimated to have cost $655 million – $107 million in direct medical costs and the rest split between lost productivity and premature mortality.But a signifi...
The Globe and Mail •

With a $1.5-million budget for a new home, what did this expecting Toronto couple buy?

Maddie Timlin, a quality improvement manager, began dating Anthony Smith, a senior project manager, in 2023. At the time, they were both living in condos that they owned: Ms. Timlin in a one-bedroom unit in Toronto’s CityPlace neighbourhood and Mr. Smith in a one-bed-plus-den west of her in Fort York. A year later, in August, 2024, Mr. Smith, 39, moved in with Ms. Timlin, 35, and rented out his unit for $2,700 a month.

Two months after moving in together, the couple was engaged. But they priori...
The Globe and Mail •

Weddings: After a stalled start, a lasting match

In our new Weddings series, Canadian couples tell us how they went from first dates to walking down the aisle

Paulina Munroe and Arjun Chelliah’s relationship began with a false start. They matched on Hinge in September, 2023, but the conversation fizzled out shortly after.

“People might use the term ‘ghosted,’” said Munroe, admitting that she didn’t respond to Chelliah’s follow-up message. They unmatched, only to rematch a few weeks later. “This time, I decided to skip the back-and-forth,” sa...

How to stop yourself from shopping on your cell phone | The Get | Neo Financial™

Published on September 28, 2026 · 5 min readFor this week’s Top Story, we’re revealing ways to stop the impulse buy—and recognize when you’re being pressured to add to cart.A few weeks ago, I was researching the cost of Toronto Raptors game tickets, on my iPhone, to buy as a birthday gift for my partner. My searches led me to StubHub, and as I began contemplating the view from various seats, messages like “2 tickets left!” and “selling fast!” popped up. I added a pair of tickets to my cart, just...
Toronto Life •

"I was a successful actor on Broadway yet living in poverty. I found new life as a psychotherapist" - Toronto Life

As a child of the ’60s, I was raised in front of the television. One of my favourite shows was the campy live-action Batman. I loved Yvonne Craig as Batgirl. She was beautiful and brave, fighting crime in kitten heels. Oh, to be so far-out, feisty and fearless! When I was six, my mother explained that the people on the screen were actors. My father was volatile and intimidating, so I already hid in a world of imagination. Suddenly, I had found my path. Nothing would stop me: I was going to be an...
The Globe and Mail •

This pharmacy technician had $425,000 to buy a condo in Scarborough, Ont. What did she buy?

In 2023, Patricia Inciong moved to Toronto from her hometown of Manila, Philippines, to complete a two-year pharmacy technician program at Centennial College. She rented a room in a shared apartment in Scarborough for $1,000. In her second year, Ms. Inciong rented a basement apartment with classmates and again paid $1,000 a month for her room.

While in her second rental, in 2024, Inciong, now 28, imagined buying a place for herself one day. “I was paying $1,000 every month,” she said. “I though...
NUVO •

Soak In the Healing Waters of Halcyon

Nordic spas might be trending now, but mineral hot springs have long been used as a therapeutic treatment. British Columbia is home to more than 130 hot springs, thanks to the province’s many mountain ranges and fault lines, which allow water heated by the Earth’s warmer interior to rise to the surface through fractures.

One region of B.C., the Kootenay Rockies, is so rich in therapeutic waters that its hots springs form a “hot springs triangle” or a circle route,  perfect for hot-spring hoppin...
Canada Media Fund •

Immersive storytelling: How two Indigenous creators are exploring the XR landscape | Canada Media Fund

Visitors to TIFF: The Market’s inaugural Innovation Hub can experience how extended reality (XR) is helping artists Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory and James Monkman share Indigenous culture in a way that goes beyond traditional film and art.
Multidisciplinary artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory thinks back to 2018, the first time she saw a virtual reality (VR) film. Biidaaban: First Light, from Indigenous filmmaker Lisa Jackson, depicted a downtown Toronto reclaimed by nature. “It really blew me...
The Globe and Mail •

Determined to get a Nova Scotia property near water, what did $150,000 get this buyer?

Samantha Kennedy grew up in the small community of Berwick, N.S., about an hour and 20 minutes northwest of Halifax. She moved to Ottawa in 2014, at 18, to study at Carleton and has been based in the country’s capital since then, most recently renting a one-bedroom apartment for $1,300 a month.

Ms. Kennedy, now 29, works as a tantric yoga teacher and pleasure coach, hosting retreats and working with clients online. For as long as she can remember, she’s yearned to buy property. “I’ve always fel...
The Globe and Mail •

How to avoid back pain while driving, according to a long-haul trucker

Have you ever wondered how to keep your back from getting sore when you’re behind the wheel on long drives?

Kirk Reid, 53, has some tricks of the trade to share. He has been working as a UPS long-haul truck driver for more than 20 years. His route from Vaughan, Ont., to Kingston and back keeps him on the road for eight hours a day.

In the first instalment of Trade Secrets – a series of conversations with everyday experts offering their advice on daily life – Reid discusses how he avoids back p...
Toronto Star •

Hamilton has one of Canada’s most exciting food scenes. Here’s what to try

In case you missed it: Hamilton has shed its dated Steeltown stereotype, transforming into an increasingly hip travel destination, just about an hour from Toronto. It’s home to a food and drink scene worthy of a road trip (or GO train ride) and enveloped by abundant nature; the dramatic ridge of the Niagara Escarpment runs right through it. The recent “Heated Rivalry” fandom has also helped put the city on the tourism map: many scenes were shot at local landmarks and restaurants.The landscape ha...
The Globe and Mail •

This marketing strategist had $800,000 to buy a farmhouse in Prince Edward County, Ont. What did he buy?

In 2014, Justin Maguire moved from his hometown of Perth, Australia, to Toronto. He’d always imagined owning a house in the city one day but the real estate boom that started in 2016 made that milestone seem unattainable to him.

“It felt like the ladder into the housing market had been pulled up,” he explains. He might have been able to eventually afford a condo downtown or a house in the suburbs, but neither option appealed to him.

He continued to rent in the city, but, in 2018, Mr. Maguire,...
The Globe and Mail •

Daughter’s recipe for family’s frozen-foods firm erases dad’s early doubts

Noorudin Jiwani was initially skeptical of the new ideas his daughter Khadija Jiwani wanted to introduce at Aliya’s Foods, the Indian frozen-foods manufacturer he founded with his wife in 1999.

On the one hand, Khadija’s decision to join the Edmonton-based family business in 2015 “was the best day of my life,” says Noorudin, Aliya’s president and CEO. He’d been thinking about retirement and was keen for one of his children to take over. On the other hand, he found it hard to relinquish control....
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