Writer, editor, consultant; éclair whisperer; she/her. eurodeli.shop Formerly: @readersdigestca, @BookmarkContent, @CdnEncyclopedia, @Adbusters
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Articles by Dominique Ritter
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You can think of flooding as the climate change version of Newton’s Third Law of motion. Rising temperatures ramp up the evaporation and moisture in the atmosphere, which triggers an opposite reaction — namely, heavy rains. Each half-degree Celsius increase in the global temperature translates to a 4 per cent boost in the air’s capacity to hold moisture.
Patterns, pine needles, and patina: step into designer Henrietta Southam’s Big Rideau Lake cottage full of eclectic treasures
You would be forgiven for thinking Henrietta Southam is giving you a master class in parking a boat. From behind mirrored aviators glinting in the sun, she eases her sleek NauticStar into the marina and allows the side of the hull to meet the dock with the subtlest air-kiss. “I learned to drive a boat before I learned to drive a car,” says barefoot Henrietta from behind the wheel, as we pull away and begin the trip across the water to her pink island cottage.
How AI can help assess the growing risk of climate change
Quebec company Geosapiens has developed a smart platform that can provide a window into potential extreme weather events. Until fairly recently, studying the past was essential in determining what might happen today, tomorrow and in the months and years ahead. And when it came to the weather, certain patterns usually prevailed: summer breezes, cold November rain and hazy shades of winter we could all reasonably rely on (and sing about).
How Alberta is fuelling its data centre building boom
When is a cloud not just a cloud? When all the data it stores requires a terrestrial residence. The shows we stream, banking we transact and questions we ask Claude all occur via “clouds” that are inextricably linked to servers with physical addresses and fast-growing environmental footprints. Demand for data centres is expected to triple by 2030 as our digital habits and our increasing reliance on artificial intelligence consume more and more compute power.
A new project in Kingston, Ont., demonstrates how innovation can help fight food insecurity
It’s no secret that Canada is in the midst of a major food insecurity crisis. Close to 10 million people across the country are unable to afford the quantity and quality of food they need, according to the national non-profit organization Right to Food.
Can AI help predict the unpredictable?
Until fairly recently, studying the past was essential in determining what might happen today, tomorrow and in the months and years ahead. And when it came to the weather, certain patterns usually prevailed: summer breezes, cold November rain and hazy shades of winter we could all reasonably rely on (and sing about).
Why the federal government’s social media ban is just one step in protecting Canadian kids
Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government introduced the Safe Social Media Act, a bill that aims to restrict access to platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for Canadians under the age of 16 by barring their use unless tech companies can demonstrate “sufficient safeguards” are implemented. Although some wily teens are already hatching ways to get around the proposed ban, three-quarters of Canadians support such legislation and many experts feel it is long overdue.
Working on It: How Haven Greens is shaping the future of hands-free farming
Inside Canada’s first fully automated greenhouse, food microbiologist Nitika Disawar helps harvest 12,000 pounds of lettuce every day — grown with zero pesticides, minimal water and maximum crunch. In this series, we explore cool new jobs in the innovation economy. Haven Greens is a five-acre greenhouse in King City, Ont., with a “Look, Ma, no hands!” approach to farming.
What Canada really needs to become a global AI leader
This week, it was the federal government’s turn to articulate its vision for our AI-enhanced future.
Protected: How to Craft a Startup Story That Sells
Dominique Ritter Dominique Ritter is a writer whose work has been published by the Toronto Star, CTV, Cottage Life and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. She was previously an editor at Reader’s Digest, the Canadian Encyclopedia, Adbusters and magazines for Investors Group, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Air Canada.
Working on It: How food microbiologist Nitika Disawar is helping shape the future of hands-free farming
In this series, we explore cool new jobs in the innovation economy. Haven Greens is a five-acre greenhouse in King City, Ont., with a “Look, Ma, no hands!” approach to farming. Powered by a fully automated hydroponic system that nurtures each plant from seed to harvest, the operation became the first of its kind in Canada to grow indoor crops without human contact when it launched last year.
The Canadian startup that brought us human-free pizza-making is set to boost its robot power
Last week, Appetronix, a London, Ont.-based company that made a splash (and inspired many selfies) this past summer with the launch of its fully automated Donatos Pizza restaurant at Columbus International Airport, announced it had purchased Vancouver food robotics firm Cibotica. The acquisition was a strategic move in an economic climate that has added more stressors to an already challenging industry. “For the first time we’ve seen McDonald’s taking a hit,” says Appetronix CEO Nipun Sharma.
Why AI is a critical tool in fending off the threats posed by powerful AI models
According to one expert, if we want to protect ourselves against AI-enabled cyberattacks, the best solution is to fight fire with fire. “Who’s going to dominate? Chances are, the ones using AI,” says Ivan Tsarynny, the co-founder and CEO of Feroot, a Toronto cybersecurity startup. “It’s a question of how to make sure that we are leading the race.” Feroot uses enhanced AI models to protect digital user data and ensure ongoing, real-time compliance with laws, standards and privacy regulations.
Made in Canada: This startup is shrinking the footprint of heavy-duty trucks
In this series, we explore how Canadian businesses are contending with global trade disruption. Canada is home to some very large trucks — the kind that are classified as “heavy duty” and can haul weights up to 63 tonnes (the equivalent of 126 male polar bears). It’s also home to a hydrogen and fuel-cell sector known for pioneering new technologies. And now, Canada is home to a massive truck powered by hydrogen fuel.
This Quebec startup is shooting for the stars to keep tabs on the true north
Canada is having a moment in space. After a successful lunar flyby, London, Ont.’s Jeremy Hansen and the rest of NASA’s Artemis II’s are preparing to land back on Earth. And just a few days before their historic journey, a piece of novel Canadian technology left the Earth’s surface on a mission to track the invisible forces that govern where we’re all going.
How can we avert another devastating Canadian housing crisis?
The signs around Canadian housing affordability were looking more optimistic … until they weren’t. Earlier this week, the Ontario and federal governments announced a plan to waive the HST for buyers of new homes in the province over the next year in an effort to revive the market and boost the construction sector.
A Canadian company’s new vaccine trial could spell big things for the future of personalized cancer treatment
This month, Calgary-based Providence Therapeutics is launching a trial of its mRNA vaccine, PaedNEO-VAX, to treat medulloblastoma, diffuse midline glioma and ependymoma — three rare childhood brain cancers that are considered terminal. While researchers first started exploring the use of mRNA vaccines to destroy tumour cells in the 1990s, this study is the first of its kind to test individualized treatments designed to address each child’s cancer.
Canadian startup decoding the health data found in our eyes
In this series, we explore cool new jobs in the innovation economy. If you’ve had a fluorescein angiography (FA), chances are you remember it. The procedure requires that dye be injected so that a specialized camera can then map oxygen supply and potential leakage in your retina’s blood vessels.
How is Canadian AI working to boost energy sovereignty?
A Canadian cleantech startup is taking its recipe for energy resilience overseas. This week, Kitchener’s CoeusAI announced a partnership with the North Sea Energy (NSE) program, a Dutch public-private consortium, in which its made-in-Canada tech will be deployed to develop offshore energy systems in the North Sea. CoeusAI’s artificial intelligence and machine-learning software will optimize the location and development of offshore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage.
How is Canadian AI working to boost energy sovereignty?
A Canadian cleantech startup is taking its recipe for energy resilience overseas. This week, Kitchener’s CoeusAI announced a partnership with the North Sea Energy (NSE) program, a Dutch public-private consortium, in which its made-in-Canada tech will be deployed to develop offshore energy systems in the North Sea. CoeusAI’s artificial intelligence and machine-learning software will optimize the location and development of offshore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage.
How Canadian technology can help stabilize the rocky market for rare earth elements
The supply of critical minerals is in the news again with the U.S. announcing plans last week to create a preferential trade zone to shore up stockpiles currently threatened by trade tensions with China. This group of lesser-known heavy metals play an outsized role in creating the magnets that are essential components in electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones and screens, medical equipment and AI infrastructure. Demand for rare earth elements (REE) is expected to triple by 2035.
What really happens to the online purchases you return?
Easy, free returns have become the expectation of online shoppers and a big problem for retailers and the environment. Tech platforms, like Toronto-based GoBolt, are looking to optimize the process. Online shopping has become the de facto method for purchasing goods. But the rise of digital retail is posing logistical and environmental challenges for retailers. Canada is the world’s ninth-largest market for e-commerce with online retail annual sales .
What the “Carney Doctrine” means for Canadian trade
When Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled back the curtain on our ruptured world order during his speech last week in Davos, the invitation to “live in truth” had particular resonance for Canadian export businesses. “I think it’s exactly what the country needed to hear,” says Stuart Bergman, chief economist and vice president at Export Development Canada.
Recent breakthroughs in Parkinson’s disease laying groundwork for new treatments
Several recent studies illustrate how our understanding of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is evolving in real time. Researchers from California and South Korea have published new information about environmental factors, such as pesticides and mouth bacteria, that can elevate the risk of PD, while a team led by McGill University scientists is working to pinpoint the role of dopamine in physical movement, which could improve treatment.
Made in Canada: This AI tool is helping businesses solve their Goldilocks problem
In a world where having too much or too little inventory can come with hefty, tariff-enhanced financial tolls, Toronto startup Moselle enables companies to ensure their supply is just right. In this series, we explore how Canadian businesses are contending with global trade disruption. Lakhveer Singh Jajj gets goods.
For Canada’s startups, AI was a dominant force in 2025
Canada’s innovation ecosystem faced serious headwinds in 2025. With federal and provincial elections fuelling uncertainty about politics and U.S. tariffs causing trade turmoil, entrepreneurs were left to find their footing against a backdrop of major change, notes Benjamin Bergen, who is leaving the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) in January to head up the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA).
Tech Update: Aslan’s modular turbines could be the next wave in Canada’s green energy
Hydroelectric power accounts for more than 60 per cent of Canada’s energy. While enormous projects in B.C., Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador generate electricity that is considered “green,” they’ve also generated controversy related to their environmental impact, cost overruns and fraught relations with local and Indigenous communities. These issues point to why experts have suggested we’re approaching the end of the era of big dams.
Tech Update: What Xanadu’s move signals for quantum computing in Canada
Along with $15 million (U.S.) in potential funding for Stage B participants, the DARPA milestone provides a who’s in/who’s out list of firms that have passed Pentagon vetting to determine whether it’s possible to deliver advanced quantum computing for a reasonable price. (Stage C finalists will receive up to $300 million (U.S.) in funding.) The sector is being watched closely by investors looking to cash in on the “quantum craze,” with stock growth surpassing AI in the past 12 months.
Viral forecast: Experts break down what to know about infectious diseases in circulation
Canada has officially lost its measles elimination status. Here’s how to best protect yourself against that highly contagious illness — as well as COVID-19, RSV, influenza and the common cold. Each autumn, in tandem with the changing leaves and the onset of sweater weather, there is a surge in seasonal illnesses.
Made in Canada: This AI tool is helping businesses solve their Goldilocks problem
In this series, we explore how Canadian businesses are contending with global trade disruption. Lakhveer Singh Jajj gets goods. The founder and CEO of Moselle, an inventory management platform, first started thinking about the topic — having the right amount of product, in the right place, at the right time — in his parents’ wholesale company and grocery store in Toronto’s Little India. It’s one of those businesses where “you live and breathe supply chain,” says Singh Jajj.
Tech Update: Why FinTRAC’s record $177-million fine against a crypto exchange won’t curb crime
Money laundering, the process of concealing the origins of ill-gotten funds, is to crime as the human condition is to Shakespeare — it’s what sustains the whole enterprise. And, in Canada, an estimated $45 to $113 billion is laundered every year, according to the department of finance, posing a serious threat to the safety and security of citizens as well as to the health of our financial system. As of last week, however, the cost of laundering money in the country went way, way up. On Oct.
Made in Canada: ReturnBear is streamlining the online returns process despite trade turmoil
The Toronto startup is tackling the crisis in online returns by providing a service to cut costs, reduce environmental impact and satisfy demanding customers — at a time of shifting tariffs and geopolitical strife. In this series, we explore how Canadian businesses are contending with global trade disruption. There are things we want and things we don’t want. Then there are things we wanted, ordered online, decided no, thank you! and unceremoniously returned to sender.
Made in Canada: How Rainstick Shower is navigating market uncertainty
In the last few months, CEO Alisha McFetridge has had projects delayed as a result of tariff turbulence. But careful planning, expansion to new markets and a novel product are supporting the company’s mission to help households radically reduce water use. In this series, we explore how Canadian businesses are contending with global trade disruption. How much water do you think you use every day? Fifty litres? A hundred? Two hundred?
Working on It: What it’s like to make transformative medical devices
Toronto startup Cosm Medical uses AI-powered software, 3D printing and a highly personalized approach to produce tailor-made prosthetics. In this series, we explore cool new jobs in the innovation economy. Did you know that the pessary is among the first-ever medical devices? Or maybe we should back up a little: Do you know what a pessary is? It’s a device that supports a woman’s pelvic organs, when her muscles are no longer up to the task as a result of childbirth or the natural course of aging.
Green solutions help this Canadian hotel save money and impress guests
In an industry with a massive carbon footprint, the Hyatt Place Ottawa West has implemented sustainable innovations — from the food it doesn’t throw out to the lights that only turn on when needed. Whether it’s for business or leisure, getting away exacts a hefty toll on the planet. In 2022, the annual carbon footprint of the hospitality industry was estimated at 1 percent of the global total (3 percent, when you factor in embodied carbon).
Made in Canada: How Toronto-based Evoco is building a global footprint
CEO Jason Robinson is working to dial down the forever chemicals and carbon emissions in footwear, furniture foam and other products. And to ensure the company’s sustainable solution has maximum impact, he’s expanding into new markets. In this series, we explore how Canadian businesses are contending with global trade disruption. Jason Robinson is wearing old sneakers.
How MycoFutures quickly moved from prototype to product
Founder Stephanie Lipp had a product that could rival leather without the cows, the cost or the environmental casualties. Here’s how MaRS helped her bring it to market. The challenge MycoFutures had developed a promising alternative to leather, but to scale its hard-tech solution, it needed tailored support. The result The startup went from prototype to product in a just a few years. Its limited-edition travel pouch made of mycelium shipped to customers May 2025. It was a fortuitous pivot.
How startup MycoFutures got a major boost from SRTX founder Katherine Homuth
For founder Stephanie Lipp, a quick coffee with a potential business mentor turned into a business opportunity. The course of a startup never did run . There are funding snags, market hurdles and geopolitical stumbling blocks. That path is getting even bumpier for entrepreneurs, thanks to a burgeoning trade war and an economic future that is increasingly difficult to read.
Working on It: Inside the Canadian lab making the ingredients for next-generation medicines
The future of vaccines, lab-grown meats and medical research can get a big boost by making their production more efficient, climate-friendly and affordable. Are tiny bugs the fix? In this series, we explore cool new jobs in the innovation economy. If history has taught us anything it’s this: when you spot a lone fruit fly in your kitchen’s air space, you are experiencing a situation of the utmost impermanence.
4 promising breakthroughs that could bolster Canada’s health sector
Amid the current trade turmoil, creating a more resilient healthcare system is becoming a national imperative. Canadian innovators are working on solutions that could democratize access to screening, refine personalized medicine and improve care. Your physician may not have mentioned it at your last appointment but here’s a factor that’s vital to your overall health: Canadian sovereignty.
The long reach of AI
How AI and other emerging technologies are poised to change our productivity, physical wellness and power grids in 2025. While the sheer number of new innovations has been dazzling us for decades, the adoption of AI has greatly accelerated the pace of change. With 2025’s rate of innovation set to stun, we reached out to four experts for their forecasts on the tech trends that will influence the way we work, the care we receive and how we will power it all in the year ahead.
“We’re a decade behind on the energy transition”
How innovation is being deployed to save the world from the worst effects of global warming — and where it’s still falling short. On the heels of COP29, which wrapped last week in Baku, Azerbaijan, the future of the planet is anything but certain. The talks ended with a deal to provide U.S.$300 billion per year to developing nations to decarbonize their economies and cope with the effects of climate change.
Compromise and family ties are at the heart of this dreamy cottage build in Quebec
Georgeville and Georgeville. Those are the answers to the where and why of the story behind this cottage. Georgeville—a charming village on the shores of Lake Memphremagog in Quebec’s Eastern Townships—also happens to be a big part of how it all happened. Leigh Partington and her husband, Mark Smith, built their modern-yet-uncompromisingly-comfortable 900-sq.-ft. cabin on a sprawling piece of land that had belonged to Leigh’s aunt Mary on her dad’s side. But that’s just the start.
The design tweaks that could move the needle on the climate crisis
One way to consider the climate crisis is to scan the horizon: every building, road, power line and subway station has played a part. Our built environment contributes nearly (around 40 per cent) of global carbon emissions per year, and is responsible for a similar portion of energy use. And with a growing population, the demand for raw materials is expected to double by 2060.
Can sustainable architecture move the needle on the climate crisis?
The building and construction industry’s outsized contribution to carbon emissions presents massive challenges — and opportunities. One way to consider the climate crisis is to scan the horizon: Every building, road, power line and subway station has played a part. Our built environment contributes nearly (around 40 percent) of global carbon emissions per year and is responsible for a similar portion of energy use.
‘Canada is the place to be if you’re interested in AI’
Christine Allen, head of biotech firm Intrepid Labs shares her perspective on how this country has become an AI powerhouse, and how the technology can radically improve the drug development process. Christine Allen, a chemistry professor at the University of Toronto and the CEO of biotech firm Intrepid Labs, is uniquely situated at the intersection of academia and about-to-boom business.
Labour gains: Why improving accessibility and inclusion in the hiring process benefits everyone
When Eugene started his job search midway through 2023, he didn’t expect it to be easy. The prospect of looking for work can be daunting at the best of times, and this is not the best of times. Unemployment in Canada is hovering around 6.4 per cent, a problem that’s compounded by factors like biased AI resumé vetting that is ableist or magnifies other human prejudices, and a strong downward trend for youth, whose unemployment rate hit 13.5 per cent in June.
New moves: Tech solutions that can help solve Toronto’s gridlock
Toronto has some of the worst traffic in the world. These startups are working to fix that. Gridlock is a special kind of grief, with its own unique stages: inventing expletives, using the horn as an expression of your internal wail and, eventually, begrudging acceptance.
How do you solve a problem like Toronto traffic?
Gridlock is a special kind of grief, with its own unique stages: inventing expletives, using the horn as an expression of your internal wail and, eventually, begrudging acceptance. (You’ll know you’ve reached the final stage when you can say the words “Hwy. 401” without twitching.) For years, Toronto has been grappling with a skyrocketing population, crumbling infrastructure and chronically underfunded public transit. And these compounding challenges have created a massive traffic-induced deficit.
Diet for a healthier planet
We make decisions about our food based on a range of factors — cost, health, ethics, convenience, cultural norms and, of course, taste. But what we choose for dinner is also intrinsically linked to the state of the planet. “The changing climate poses an existential threat to the food system,” says Lenore Newman, director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley.
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