Canada Now
Sparking bold ideas to help shape what’s next — through an unapologetically Canadian lens.
Episodes
Canada needs more housing. So why is it so difficult to get new homes built — even when the need is clear?
In this episode of Canada Now, Ashley Smith sits down with Cynthia Jagger, Executive Vice President of Capital Markets with CBRE’s National Investment Team in Vancouver. Cynthia has spent more than two decades working in commercial real estate, with particular expertise in multifamily ho...
What makes a technology ecosystem stronger over time?
It isn’t one company, one funding announcement, or one breakthrough. Ecosystems compound as people gain experience, talent moves between companies, founders reinvest their capital and knowledge, and organizations take chances on the builders around them.
Dennis Pilarinos has experienced that process from almost every angle.
After studying computer...
Prostate Cancer in Canada: The Conversation That Could Save a Life — with Eric McCormack & Mark Mahl
Canada Now returns for SEASON 2 with a special episode marking Prostate Cancer Awareness Month — and a conversation that could genuinely change someone’s life.
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in Canada (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers). Yet silence, discomfort, and the tendency to put off difficult health conversations can prevent men from taking proactive ...
What do AI, housing, and startup ecosystems reveal about Canada’s future economy?
After 16 conversations across business, technology, real estate innovation, governance, media, and entrepreneurship, a deeper pattern began to emerge.
Not just how Canadian founders build —
but what actually allows innovation to grow.
In this Season 1 reflection, host Ashley Smith steps back to connect the thre...
After 16 conversations across housing, governance, technology, business, entrepreneurship, and media, a pattern began to emerge.
Not just innovation. Not just disruption.
But a tone.
In this solo Season 1 reflection, host Ashley Smith steps back to examine what Canadian leaders — across real estate, board governance, technology, and startups — are revealing in this moment of economic pressu...
In this episode of Canada Now, I’m joined by William Johnson — Vice President of Strategy & Operations at Overstory Media Group and founder of Vancouver Tech Journal — for a wide-ranging conversation on what’s really shifting in Canada’s innovation ecosystem in 2026.
We unpack the current pragmatic reset in venture and startups, why Vancouver’s tech community feels...
In this episode of Canada Now, I’m joined by Matias Marquez, founder and CEO of ethos — a modern loyalty and membership platform helping brands move beyond transactional points and discounts toward something far more powerful: community, participation, and real customer connection.
Built for Shopify merchants and modern e-commerce brands, ethos is part of a new wave of tools helping online re...
We’re living through a moment of real uncertainty — geopolitically, economically, and technologically. The old playbooks are breaking down. The rules are shifting. And leaders are being asked to make high-stakes decisions without a clear map.
In this episode, I sit down with veteran executive and board leader Darlene Hyde to explore how governance, leadership, and decision-making must evolve ...
Podcasting has changed — but it hasn’t lost its power.
In this episode of Canada Now, I’m joined by Brayden Dyczkowski, founder of Podfather Creative and the producer behind the studio where this show is recorded, for a behind-the-scenes conversation about the podcast medium itself.
We explore how businesses are actually using podcasts in 2026 — what’s working, what’s c...
In this episode of Canada Now, host Ashley Smith sits down with Arman Mottaghi, founder and CEO of Properate, to explore what it really takes to build companies that last — in climate tech and beyond.
Arman shares how Properate grew into one of Canada’s leading home energy assessment platforms by focusing on long-term value, real revenue, and system-level thinking — rather than ...
AI is everywhere — but leadership hasn’t always caught up.
In this episode of Canada Now, host Ashley Smith is joined by Karen Olsson, tech entrepreneur, fractional CEO, and principal at Atomic47, for a grounded conversation about what the AI moment actually demands of leaders — beyond hype, tools, and experimentation.
Karen brings a rare, on-the-ground perspective from working with orga...
In a world flooded with AI-generated content, endless platforms, and “perfect” branding, what actually builds trust?
In this episode of Canada Now, Ashley is joined by Brady Dahmer — brand strategist, author of Blind Spots, and founder of Tropoly — for a wide-ranging conversation about brand, trust, community, and why human connection matters more than ever.
Brady has spent over 25...
How does a Canadian tech company go public before it has a finished product — and then scale to more than 160 countries?
In this episode, Tom Rossiter, Co-Founder and CEO of RESAAS, shares the remarkable story behind building a global technology platform from Vancouver and navigating the uniquely Canadian path to going public pre-product.
Ashley and Tom dive into:
- The unconventi...
Cyber attacks aren’t just rising — they’re transforming. And most Canadian companies aren’t even close to ready.
In this eye-opening conversation, cybersecurity expert Dominic Vogel breaks down the new reality facing Canadian organizations as we head into 2026. From AI-powered attacks to skyrocketing ransomware incidents to the shocking fragility of our digital systems, Dominic ex...
The future of work is changing fast — and few people have a better vantage point on global leadership, talent, and purpose than Jay Rosenzweig.
Jay Rosenzweig is a successful investor and internationally renowned social impact entrepreneur, humanitarian, and CEO of Rosenzweig & Company. Across North America and beyond, he advises global corporations, high-growth founders, and purpose-driven org...
Factory-built homes are back in the spotlight in Canada — but are today’s modular homes actually good enough to help fix the housing crisis and be places people truly want to live?
In this episode of Canada Now, Ashley sits down with Rohan Kulkarni (Co-Founder & CEO, Rohe Homes) and Salik Z. Khan (Co-Founder & Chief Experience Officer) to unpack how factory-built, modular homes can sp...
What if a major housing unlock is hiding in plain sight?
This week, Ashley sits down with Laura Fortey — co-founder & COO of Reitium — to unpack how churches, hospitals, and other nonprofits can raise capital (donations, debt, or equity) to build affordable housing while keeping ownership of their land. No bulldozers-for-condos script. Instead: preserve the community anchor, add the homes...
When disruption hits your industry, will you adapt — or get left behind?
Jeff King, CEO of Greater Vancouver REALTORS® and former COO of SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), joins Canada Now to unpack how disruption unfolds — and what every Canadian leader can learn from the industries facing it head-on.
From the collapse of CD retailers to the digital tran...
Can social media feel human again? 🇨🇦
After two decades of algorithms, outrage, and endless scroll, Jess Glowacki is rebuilding social — the Canadian way.
As the founder of EH!, a proudly Canadian social network that puts community, privacy, and connection first, Jess is flipping the script on how we connect online. No algorithms. No bots. Just real people, local discovery, and a mission-driv...
Real estate is having its travel-agent moment — but the higher calling is stewardship. Serial Entrepreneur, investor, and Sutton Group CEO, Ross McCredie explains how verified identity and accurate data can protect families from financial abuse and turn brokerages into true homeowner wealth platforms.
In this episode:
- The “travel agent → advisor” shift and what it means for REALTORS®
- ...
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