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The Globe and Mail •

How AI is transforming market research: faster workflows and synthetic ‘personas’ that mimic humans

Addy Graves had been working in market research for over a decade when ChatGPT launched in 2022. While exploring the platform’s capabilities, she wondered: How could AI improve how market research is done?

Traditionally, studies would take at least two months, says Ms. Graves, who previously held positions at Critical Mass and Ipsos Reid. That included time to plan the study, develop a survey platform and questions, gather results, analyze them and create a report.

“It really wasn’t until AI t...
Canadian Grocer •

Meet the duo bringing a traditional Indigenous dry meat snack to a national audience

Ian Gladue’s career in food began with childhood imagination. Rather than playing doctor or teacher, Gladue preferred playing “restaurant” with his family. As he got older, that childhood play evolved into genuine experimentation with ingredients and preparing meals for the people around him.Raised on the Bigstone Cree Nation in Central Alberta, Gladue relocated to Edmonton as a teenager, eventually channelling his culinary passion into a food truck—opened in 2013—serving bannock burgers, a blen...
Canada Media Fund •

Meet the Vancouver brothers behind the finance and economics channel 2 and 20 | Canada Media Fund

Aman and Kamal bring their backgrounds in business, consulting, history, and economics to the explainer videos they upload to their YouTube channel, 2 and 20, which has racked up millions of views. As one of 21 creators selected for the Canada Media Fund’s Digital Creators Pilot Program, they plan to use the money to increase their output and build their media brand.
At the end of 2023, Aman, a Vancouver-based investment professional and former consultant and investor, started making videos abo...
Toronto Life •

Inside the rhythmic Bollywood-inspired wedding of two competitive dancers - Toronto Life

Shereen Ladha, a professional dancer and head of strategy at an ad agency, first met Gotham Ratnaraj, a real estate agent, in 2011, when they were individually scouted to compete in a dance group that made it to the final round of Canada’s Got Talent. They bonded over their shared love of dance, fashion and art but didn’t begin dating until 2015. They moved in together in 2017, then bought their first home four years later. In 2024, Ratnaraj proposed in Barcelona. A five-day wedding merging the...
Toronto Life •

$5 million for a cliffside Bruce Peninsula mansion with lollipop columns - Toronto Life

Location: Bruce PeninsulaPrice: $4,999,999
Size: 6,186 square feet
Bedrooms: 4+1
Bathrooms: 5
Real estate agent: Kevin Gilchrist, Sotheby’s International RealtyA four-bedroom-plus-den, five-bathroom detached home in northern Bruce Peninsula, this property is perched on a cliff nearly 100 metres above Georgian Bay, just next to Lion’s Head Provincial Park. It comes with parking spots for 10 cars, a hot tub, a great room with 33-foot ceilings and swirly columns galore. Motorists are a three-and-a-...
Canada Media Fund •

Italian + Music + Teaching = Winning Content for Frank Moyo | Canada Media Fund

His videos have millions of views and have been shared by actors Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Now social media star Frank Moyo is one of 21 creatives selected for the Canada Media Fund’s Digital Creators Pilot Program. The singing teacher explains why he makes videos that teach kids Italian, and how the money may help take his content to the next level
Frank Moyo’s Italian roots run deep. His parents and grandparents immigrated from Calabria, in Southern Italy, to Canada in the earl...
Toronto Life •

Inside a DIY cabin wedding that turned into a forest rave - Toronto Life

Kate Memphis Wurstlin, a 32-year-old tattoo artist, first met Mike George, a 33-year-old tattoo artist and builder, when they were first-year fine arts students at OCAD University in 2011. Though they didn’t connect at the time, the pair met up in 2018 over their shared career path in tattooing. After a few flirty encounters, they began dating in 2019. They discovered a mutual love for DIY projects and renovations after they flipped a Scarborough house in 2020. Later, they purchased a cabin in G...
U of T Magazine •

A Comedy About Mental Health? It’s More Than Self-Therapy | U of T Magazine - U of T Magazine

Leanne Toshiko Simpson, who earned a degree in creative writing from U of T Scarborough and is director of literary programming at Trinity College, released her debut novel, Never Been Better – which she describes as a “mental health comedy” – in 2023. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she discovered that writing could support her path forward.
Tell me about how creative writing helped you after you were diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
It was hard living with a disruptive diagnosis....
The Globe and Mail •

This IT engineer had a half-million-dollar budget for a downtown Toronto condo. What did he buy?

In 2023, Abdo Laalami moved from Cannes, France, to Toronto under the French-speaking permanent residency stream. He found work as an IT engineer and rented a room in a two-bedroom condo in Toronto’s Harbourfront neighbourhood, paying $1,500 a month for his share.

Mr. Laalami yearned for a place of his own. He started saving up for a down payment, taking advantage of the TFSA, First Home Savings Account and RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan. At the time, Mr. Laalami thought he could only afford to buy a s...
Canadian Grocer •

How Khadija Jiwani is leading the next phase of Aliya’s Fine Foods

In 2015, Khadija joined the company full time, coinciding with her parents stepping back as they approached retirement. Her first order of business was redeveloping the company’s in-house brand, Chef Bombay. The company found early success producing private-label products for major grocers and prioritized that business, resulting in Chef Bombay being limited to shelves in just 100 stores.“The quality was there,” Khadija says. “It was just about communicating that to people. We had the brand, Che...
Canada Media Fund •

Time Hoppers:  from e-Book to franchise

How an Edmonton production studio that creates Muslim-oriented entertainment for kids turned a story about the Silk Road from an e-book to a game, web series and full-length feature film.
In 2017, producer, writer and director Flordeliza Dayrit started writing Time Hoppers, a children’s e-book about the history of the Silk Road and the Islamic Golden Age. She was fascinated by the era, which spanned from the 8th to the 13th centuries, and knew she had something special on her hands. “It’s just n...
Toronto Life •

How the owner of a Yorkville salon found a gorgeous apartment right downtown - Toronto Life

The Renter: Olga Onulov, owner of Rebel and Beauty, a brow, lash and makeup salon in Yorkville.The Story: In 2022, Olga was living in a 600-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment near Yonge and Charles. She was paying $2,100 a month, which didn’t feel worth it given how slow her landlord was to repair her broken fridge and leaky plumbing. More importantly, Olga yearned for some separation from her salon, as she’d often run into clients while walking around her neighbourhood on days off...
Chatelaine •

Are Private Menopause Clinics Worth It? - Chatelaine

When women can’t get adequate support from public clinics like Premji’s, they’re increasingly turning elsewhere. The menopause business is booming: Market research company Grand View Horizon predicts that the menopause market in Canada, which includes sales of hormonal and non-hormonal therapies, will reach US $784.9 million by 2030. And in the past 10 years, a slew of virtual healthcare startups like Felix, Science & Humans and Hims & Hers have sprung up alongside smaller private clinics to mak...
Toronto Life •

How a $1-million reno transformed a frilly Rosedale mansion into a "home for adults" - Toronto Life

A four-bedroom, four-plus-one-bathroom, 5,000-square-foot mansion in the heart of Rosedale.In 2018, the current owners of this classic Rosedale home asked interior designer Megan Crosbie to tour it on their behalf. They were based in Asia at the time, and their goal was to buy the real estate, renovate it and live in it eventually. The mansion’s maximalist aesthetic was dated: loud coffered ceilings, decorative Roman columns and garish wallpaper. A softer, airier, contemporary aesthetic was requ...
Toronto Life •

This couple downsized into an elegant two-storey condo—and their daughter handled interior design - Toronto Life

In a cooling condo market, Toronto homeowners Jolie Lin and Ian Crosbie saw an opportunity to downsize. By 2024, they were spending most of their time in an Erin vacation home they’d purchased in 2012. “We loved the quiet of the countryside,” Lin explains. The property also had more room for their two dogs—an English springer spaniel named Auggie and a border collie–Australian shepherd mix named Cooper.Meanwhile, the four-bedroom Summerhill home they’d lived in since 2014 sat empty. They were re...
Canadian Grocer •

From socca to success—the story behind Peacasa

Aaron Johnstone and Victor Delage first met in 2015, when the two were studying business at the University of Ottawa. It wasn’t until the end of 2018, however, that a Mediterranean street food called socca would inspire the duo to start a food company.While hiking through France—where Delage was working as a professional sailor—he introduced Johnstone to socca, a light flatbread Delage had grown up eating. “They make it from chickpea flour and olive oil,” Johnstone explains. “They make it in the...
The Globe and Mail •

This 42-year-old and her daughter had a $450,000 budget for a home in Winnipeg. Here’s what she found

Michelle Hamilton was born and raised in Winnipeg. In 2013, she moved to Gabriola Island, B.C., a rural community 25 minutes from Nanaimo by ferry, with her husband, who is also from Winnipeg. In 2014, they purchased a two-bedroom farmhouse on five acres of land for $335,000. Their daughter, Ainsley, was born in 2018. After that, Ms. Hamilton, now 42, yearned to be closer to family back in Winnipeg.
The Globe and Mail •

A college or university degree still matters, but acquiring the right skills is just as important

If you’re a young Canadian or a job hunter on social media, you’ll likely have come across viral posts and videos such as “Top 10 highest paying careers without a four-year college degree” or “Think you need a degree to make good money? Think again.”

It can be tempting to forgo the traditional college or university degree path and focus on acquiring the skills or experience you need to land your first job. But a study from Boston Consulting Group released in December 2023 shows that the percent...
The Globe and Mail •

What home can $1-million buy for a couple seeking ‘upscale but not ostentatious’ in Kelowna?

In 2022, Allison Young, CEO of a hospital foundation, began dating Allan Neilson, a public policy consultant. A year later, they moved in together, renting a two-bedroom carriage house in the Pandosy Village neighbourhood of south central Kelowna, B.C. A few months later, by the summer of 2023, the couple started thinking of buying their own place.

“We wanted to invest in something that was beautiful but had a bit of a lighter environmental footprint, both physically but also with ongoing maint...
Precedent •

How law firms can attract top junior talent

Recent survey data sheds light on what Canadian associates look for in a position. The principal priority, perhaps unsurprisingly, is money. If you hope to lure an associate to your team, you’ll need to offer that person a competitive salary. That’s a virtual certainty.But it’s not the only factor. Next on the list of associate priorities is work-life balance. This is a tricky one. The legal industry tends to impose onerous billable-hour targets on its associate class, in part to afford the high...
The Globe and Mail •

Earn your first glimpse of Machu Picchu with just a one-day hike on the Inca Trail

Only an hour into a one-day trek on the Inca Trail and I’m already doubting myself. The 12 kilometres to Machu Picchu started out flat but I’ve been climbing what feels like an endless set of stairs and switchbacks. Maybe it’s the thinner air – we’re about 2,500 metres above sea level – or the relentless sun or the burning sensation in my lungs with every breath. I don’t know how I’m going to make it six more hours to our destination.

Our guide is a patient Andean woman in her 50s who has done...
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