Canadian Business

In the 2010s, esports emerged as the next frontier of professional sports. The global industry, built around organized competitive video gaming, grew from US$194 million in revenue in 2014 to nearly US$1 billion by the end of the decade, while its audience worldwide more than doubled to 435 million viewers.

On a Saturday afternoon at Showcase’s store in Mississauga, Ontario, a group of teenagers shake small boxes by their ears. Nearby, a mother and her daughter debate which one “feels heavier.” They’re not just drawn to what’s inside–they’re chasing the thrill and social media-fuelled hype of  a blind box.

When a business relies on travel, getting employees from one place to another is only part of the equation. Bookings need to happen quickly, schedules can change without warning and the finance department needs a clear picture of where travel dollars are going. When those processes aren’t working, the consequences can extend well beyond a frustrating booking experience. Delayed decisions can slow projects, employees can lose valuable time and businesses can miss opportunities to control costs.

I was always a curious kid who enjoyed building things. I remember constructing skyscrapers out of paper when I was young. Even then, I was drawn to urbanism and cities, though I didn’t realize it at the time. I grew up in Île Bizard in Montreal’s West Island, a very suburban and car-centric area. In high school, most of my friends had cars, but I never had one myself. Around that time, I also taught myself how to code, and started building websites on the side for fun.

Since the early days of the internet, businesses have sought to stay ahead of cybercriminals. Now, AI is making cyberattacks faster and easier to scale. That’s raising the stakes for organizations trying to protect their data, systems, and operations. Cyberattacks have evolved over the years to target both people and technology.

Ideas In recent years, Rob Galaski, president of Toronto-based fintech company Questrade Financial Group, began noticing a gap in how Canadians were getting information about money. He saw traditional media as credible but dry, while “finfluencers”—social media personalities who provide financial advice—were engaging but didn’t always offer the same level of credibility. There wasn’t much in between. Galaski saw an opportunity for Questrade to play a bigger role in that conversation about money.

Soup etc! founder, Michael Coderre Michael Coderre wasn’t planning to build a food company. After selling the national internet business he had founded, the lifelong entrepreneur found himself at a crossroads, considering what might come next. In looking for inspiration, he found himself reflecting less on his previous business career and more on his childhood. Coderre grew up in a family with limited means, where making the most of what you had wasn’t a philosophy—it was simply how you lived.

Ideas AI was introduced as a way to ease workloads. For many employees, it may be adding to them instead. A recent Upwork study found that 77 per cent of employees using the technology say it has increased their workload, even as employers turn to it for greater productivity. Nearly half of employees say they don’t know how to meet the productivity gains expected of them.

{Photography: Northern Super League} I grew up in Oakville, Ontario, with an older brother and a younger sister. Our parents enrolled us in sports early—probably just so we could burn off energy—but I quickly fell in love with soccer. I loved being part of a team, and it didn’t hurt that I was good at it. Still, I never imagined I’d become a professional soccer player, let alone go on to lead the Northern Super League, Canada’s first women’s professional soccer league.

The traditional 9-to-5 office setup has completely transformed. On any given afternoon, a project manager might review client deliverables from a commuter train while an IT leader configures an entire department’s tech stack from their home office. In this fluid world of hybrid work, the line between a smooth, productive workday and a frustrating afternoon of tech bottlenecks usually comes down to one tool: your laptop. Today’s professionals don’t just need a machine that can keep up.