With endless conversations about AI’s promise at Toronto Tech Week, fewer conversations focused on how the technology is shaking up the labour market. At an event hosted by professional development consultancy Re-Work, tech workers, academics, and founders debated how AI is set to change workers’ relationships to their jobs. Doing some tasks faster and more…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A clinical trial published May 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that a new drug called bepirovirsen achieved a functional cure in approximately one in five patients with chronic hepatitis B. That number matters. The current standard of care achieves a functional cure in around three…
BY THE OPITMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You know the feeling: you’re staring at a sponge that’s clearly past its kitchen prime, and something makes you pause before dropping it in the bin. Good instinct. Old sponges, especially natural ones made from cellulose or other plant-based materials, have more life in them than most people realize….
Canadian sports tech entrepreneurs say AI has the potential to make expert coaching accessible to the next generation of athletes—so long as they avoid becoming overly reliant on it. Leaders from the Quantum Sports and Learning Association (QSLA), Above the Neck, Founder Athlete, and Peripheral Labs unpacked the promise and peril of AI-powered coaching in…
A leaked draft of Canada’s forthcoming AI strategy reportedly proposes establishing a Canadian Tech Growth Fund alongside a large number of other measures intended to push the country’s pace of AI adoption and commercialization. The news: On Monday, CBC News reported it had obtained a draft copy of the strategy, titled “AI for All.” The…
Did you know there are over 960,000 kilometres of mapped roads across Canada and the US for hands-free driving? That’s the scale of Super Cruise–GM’s hands-free driving technology– built by Canadian talent. “Ontario’s talent ecosystem is among the best in the world.” Reza Zarringhalam, GM With features like Signal Activated Lane Change and Automatic Lane…
Isabelle Hudon will remain CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) until at least 2030. “[Isabelle] will stay with us until 2030 to provide a steady hand at a pivotal time for Canada and its entrepreneurs.” The Crown corporation announced on Friday that it was extending Hudon’s mandate to ensure continuity as “entrepreneurs…
Georgian Partners lead investor Emily Walsh said the Toronto investment firm’s latest survey indicates Canadian business-to-business (B2B) software firms continue to lag their international peers in “some pretty foundational pieces of AI adoption,” including agentic AI. The news: Last Wednesday, Georgian released its most recent AI adoption report, which it compiled with the help of…
I’ve just had an incredible week. Last week, BetaKit launched the 2026 edition of BetaKit Most Ambitious, which tells stories of nearly 100 innovators strengthening Canadian sovereignty. “Everywhere I go, BetaKit is there. They grill me. Every time I say something, I say: ‘I wish I didn’t say that’ because BetaKit recorded it.” We launched…
Yegor Sak is the CEO and co-founder of VPN service provider Windscribe, a self-funded, Canada-based internet privacy company. Canada has a legitimate public safety problem to solve. Police and national security agencies need lawful tools to investigate serious crimes and threats that move through digital systems. However, the problem with Bill C-22—the proposed legislation intended…
