AI is flooding into Canadian workplaces—especially in the technology sector, where startups are racing to adopt AI to do more with less and build faster. Tech employers and current and prospective workers are now using AI to do everything from generate their resumes to review potential candidates and guide decisions about employees. The death of…
Episode Description: Every player at this year’s World Cup is wearing the end result of 500 years of iteration on a single piece of equipment. It started with factory workers hammering hardware store nails into their boots for traction on wet British turf. Ten solutions this week with Arielle and Karissa: the world’s first exome…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM There’s a specific kind of “off” that’s difficult to capture or express in words. No, you’re not feeling sick or sad. You’re not stressed exactly. Just… off. A little irritable, a little flat, carrying something you can’t quite put your finger on. You’ve cleaned the kitchen, gone for a…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM There’s something almost absurd about how we’ve always measured wildlife. Two trained ecologists visit the same river, spend days cataloguing what they can see, and come back with completely different species lists. Neither is wrong. The data just can’t be compared, which means it can’t really be used. “If…
As Startupfest closed off its “sweet sixteen” edition, more than a dozen startups nabbed cash prizes worth a total of $825,000. Moncton, New Brunswick-based AgroGene Solutions, which makes a hive-monitoring software solution for beekeepers, won the $100,000 Best of the Fest prize at the Montréal tech conference on Friday out of 275 pitches. The company…
New Brunswick innovator, entrepreneur, and storied cheerleader for the Maritimes’ startup sector, Gerry Pond, has died. Pond, who was the former CEO of New Brunswick Telecom (NBTel) and president of its successor, Aliant Telecom, died on July 8 at the age of 82. With a career that spanned 45 years in the information and communication…
The CEO of a domestic rocket company thinks Canadian hardtech needs a strong success story to incite investment. The news: Bachar Elzein, CEO and CTO of Montréal-based rocket launch startup Reaction Dynamics, discussed the state of play for defence and space companies on a Startupfest panel on Friday. Joined by Investissement Québec investor Claire Lelièvre,…
Middle Eastern physical AI startup Ahoy is relocating its research and development (R&D) operations to Montréal and deepening its partnership with local AI research institute Mila. The news: Ahoy develops AI infrastructure designed to perceive, decide, and operate in the physical world. The Dubai-based company announced the latest on its Canadian expansion Wednesday at Startupfest,…
From accidental emails to the brink of bankruptcy, founder horror stories run the gamut from trivial to make-or-break moments. “My dad looked at me [and] he was like, ‘If you can’t make money, maybe it’s not a business. It sent a chill down my spine.” Laura Lalonde,GridBank At Startupfest in Montréal on Wednesday, four Canadian…
When Lyla Boychuk first heard about the 2026 Calgary Stampede Robot Rodeo’s Agtech challenge, she thought she might be building tractors. Instead, the young roboticist found herself duking it out, gladiator-style, on one of Western Canada’s biggest stages. “We want [youth] to know that beyond the flashy stuff out there, there’s also a very important…
