Patio season is finally here, and Canadians are apparently very eager to leave the dark depths of this past winter behind: a survey by OpenTable found that outdoor dining in Canada is up 24% from last year, and 74% of respondents said they plan to eat outdoors at least once a month this summer. What is it about being outside that makes beer taste better? Pass the SPF 50.

– Kat Angus, Deputy Editor

The takeaway: A strong week for the markets – all four indices hit record highs at some point since Monday, with the Dow actually doing it twice during the week. Energy and financials helped boost the TSX while banking and industrials did the work in the US, although the Nasdaq ceded some of those gains by close Thursday. Still, it’s a sign that this rally is more spread out, rather than being concentrated in just one sector.

Statistics Canada’s GDP numbers from last Friday immediately sent people googling the definition of “technical recession” – for the record, that’s when a country’s GDP shrinks for two consecutive quarters. Nobody disputes that Q4 of 2025 was rough for Canada, as GDP shrank 1% on an annualized basis. But for Q1 of 2026, GDP only dipped by 0.1% – and yes, that’s two consecutive negative quarters, but if you actually measure quarter-over-quarter, the GDP was basically flat. So you could say that we’re in a technically technical recession, but the matter is technically up for debate.

It’s hard to argue with the data underneath that, though. Business investment fell for a fifth consecutive quarter, with businesses apparently taking one look at rising energy costs and the never-ending tariff saga and deciding to sit out for a while. Exports are down, housing is weak, and even if you don’t think we’re in a technical recession right now, GDP growth has gone down for three of the last four quarters. Consumer spending is up, which seems like a bright spot, but there’s a difference between spending because you feel good about the economy and spending because everything is hella expensive. Which one is it? Too soon to tell! Fun!

by Jessica Aftimus Rosa

This is an excerpt of an article originally run in full on The Margin.

I thought I could cut my monthly rent in half by trading my place in downtown Toronto for an apartment in São Paulo, Brazil. The savings are possible, in theory. The problem is that short-term residents rarely gain access to local prices, so the way people determine affordability is often wrong.

My Brazilian husband and I are remote workers who can do our jobs from anywhere with an internet connection. We saw the opportunity to spend the winter in his home country while taking advantage of the Canadian dollar’s strength against the Brazilian real (1 CAD = 3.80 BRL at the time).

According to Numbeo, the average apartment rental price was 56.2% lower in São Paulo than Toronto, with Brazilians paying about the equivalent of $1,000 CAD per month for a one-bedroom apartment in the city. We haven’t seen prices like those in Toronto since 2012.

I began apartment-hunting on local Brazilian rental platforms like Quinto Andar and Imovelweb and quickly had a harsh reality check. Leases under 12 months in São Paulo were basically nonexistent. Even if I had found one – and had a local family member co-sign as a guarantor, since foreigners without one typically have to pay double the rent upfront as a security deposit – the Brazilian definition of ‘furnished’ was vastly different from mine. It’s not uncommon to require renters to supply their own appliances in Brazil; I was not prepared to outfit a full kitchen for a four-month stay.

It was clear that São Paulo, despite its coworking spaces and digital nomad visa, didn’t have options for medium-duration stays like ours.

Read more

Kat Angus, Deputy Editor: The World Cup literally kicks off next week, and who cares? For all my sports-averse people out there, our World Cup has already begun: the new season of Love Island USA premiered on Crave last Wednesday and I am P-U-M-P-E-D. In my opinion, this is the actually exciting stretch of 2026, as a cast of unbelievably attractive, painfully heterosexual twenty-somethings try to flirt, smooch, and even smash their way to love, fame, and a big cash prize. Getting your kicks on the grass just doesn’t measure up.

What I appreciate most about Love Island USA is that, like me, the show’s producers are messy bitches who live for drama. They’re constantly sending in new hotties to stir up conflict, and they won’t hesitate to expose secrets like a coupled-up cast member secretly kissing someone else. And the cast members get possessive and jealous so fast – within days, sometimes even hours, multiple people will break out in tears because someone they just met chose a different partner. Whether I mean to or not, I always pick my favourites and root against the villains. It’s all very heightened and stupid and I love it more than I love some of my actual family members.

Enjoy your fútbol. I’ll be making Love Island my whole personality for the next six weeks.

Behold, an AI summary of our intellectually stimulating Slack conversations:

If you liked this newsletter, hated this newsletter, or are totally indifferent to it, hit the reply button and tell us why! We’re so lonely.

This week’s contributors: Jessica Aftimus Rosa (writer), Tyler Haw (audience engagement), Jenna Zaitchik (senior creative designer), Shazia Khan (social media strategy manager), Kat Angus (deputy editor), and Eric Wainwright (editor in chief).

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