CanCon

Halifax, like many cities in Canada, faces a housing crunch. Not because of how big it is geographically. There's plenty of room. But because of how hard it can be for cities to rezone for increased density and create more affordable housing. If you live in a city of decent  size, you're probably familiar with why: NIMBYs, lobbyists and all the assorted complaints and opposition and money that tends to stop ambitious city-plan...

Well, let's just say that if everything's going great, you don't generally need to spin up an entire law enforcement agency out of thin air. But after years of failing to meaningfully cope with financial crimes, and the subsequent hits to our reputation in the international community that failure brings, the federal government has seen enough.

Instead of the RCMP, which has murders and kidnappings and daily small-town policing on i...

It was long overdue, and began with a promise: It might start small, covering just a few common drugs, and expand until Canadians without benefits were no longer struggling to afford medication prescribed by doctors under our universal health care system.

Less than two years later, however, the program seems set to contract instead of expand. It never got beyond the first couple of drugs, and the funding might well be squeezed to z...

You may not have heard about it, but the Permanent Joint Board on Defense has been a part of Canada and America's shared strategy for decades. Evidently, however, it may not be as "permanent" as its name suggests. 

Recently, the US announced it was pausing the board, citing Canada's need to contribute more to mutual defence in North America and a suggestion that we're talking the talk more than walking the walk when it comes t...

Canada, as you may know, produces a ton of oil. Billions of tons every day, actually. Nearly all the oil we use was taken from the ground, one way or another, right here. And yet! When the Strait of Hormuz shut down, the price Canadians pay for Canadian-produced oil and gas went through the roof, just as it's done in nations that need to import almost all their oil.

The answer to why that happened goes back to a policy that Canada ...

This week we're checking in with the audience on the first few months of CanCon, discussing episodes we did or didn't (yet!) create, reading some of your feedback and getting a feel for where we're at before we dive back in to another few months of Canadian stories. If you haven't yet, don't forget to let us know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover. And thanks, as always, for listening.

Feedback from listeners is so, so...

A roof over one's head has been a necessity of life since we lived in caves. But when that roof also represents Canada's class struggle, our income inequality issues and potentially the owner's entire retirement portfolio...things get complicated.

More than half of young Canadians don't expect they'll ever own a home. There are millions of Canadians right now who own their homes thanks to privilege, timing, relationships and...just...

In recent weeks, dozens of videos pushing Alberta separation (and frequently US annexation) have driven tens of millions of views on YouTube. But there's a problem. All these videos and accounts are remarkably similar, and to someone who actually knows the province, there are signs the people making them ... do not.

Who's behind these videos and what's their goal? To truly drive an independent Alberta, or to sow division during a t...

In the late '90s and early '00s, the music industry fundamentally changed. Within a decade, fans went from buying CDs in a local music store to purchasing $0.99 singles on iTunes. But before iTunes was available in Canada, and before the US giants took over the industry, Canadian startups were at the front of the pack.

In this episode, we reminisce on a very strange and transformative time in media--you might remember the first CD ...

It's not just a Canadian problem, though it has likely cost some Canadians their lives. Staff answering 911 calls in centres the world over are overworked, stressed and sometimes ... there just aren't enough of them. As a result, callers are sometimes left on hold in the most awful circumstances possible. Money has been spent on recruitment, but talent is tough to come by. Enter Hyper.

A Canadian startup that was just acquired by M...

Would you call Walmart Canada a "Canadian" company? It's a much more complex question than it appears—but I think most of us would agree on the general answer. It's a Canadian subsidiary of a giant US retail behemoth. But when it comes to procurement spending from the federal government, often these are kinds of companies that can meet qualifications to describe themselves as "Canadian" and earn an edge over their competitors...

When the World Happiness Report first began scoring countries on their self-reported levels of happiness in 2012, Canada was consistently in the top 10. It felt right, we were pretty happy. Over the past several years, things have been changing, first slowly and now rapidly. In the recently published edition of the report, Canadians' happiness levels ranked 25th in the world, by far a new low. And that precipitous drop has been dri...

In any other entertainment medium, a Canadian-made product winning the equivalent of a Best Picture Oscar would be historic, headline-grabbing news. But when Canadian-made games win Game Of The Year—and they have, multiple times—the country barely bats an eye. Games are big business in Canada, and we have some of the world's premier talent, in both massive corporate studios and tiny indie development houses. Yet unless ...

One might've thought we'd learned our lesson in 2020. That being hit with waves of deeply ill patients that pushed our health care system—especially its front lines in hospitals and ERs—to the brink would have woken us up to just how close to disaster we were operating. Alas.

On this episode of Cancon, Emergency Room physician, podcaster and author Dr. Brian Goldman takes us inside the ongoing low-level crisis that happ...

The federal Liberals miraculous early-2025 comeback was one of the biggest sudden shocks in Canadian political history. In response to Justin Trudeau's resignation, Donald Trump's threats and tariffs and the ascendance of Mark Carney, Canadian voters flocked back to the party that had been in power for a decade. The party they appeared ready to abandon. In the wake of that, things seemed to settle into a new normal—something ...

A little less than a decade ago, the podcast industry was ascendant in Canada. Independent shows were finding an audience, major media companies were starting podcast network and buying up podcast production houses, and it was assumed the medium would continue to grow alongside the American industry. Podcasting had arrived.

Today, despite audience growth that surged during the pandemic and continues today, the industry is strugglin...

You know the joke about Canada being three (insert sector here) companies in a trench coat? Well, it's kind of always been that way.

When Canadians complain about the lack of choices for consumers in so many industries, they're continuing a long tradition that began with the founding of our nation. Ever since the Hudson's Bay company was handed control of the fur trade and our railroad was built by Canadian Pacific we've had it in ...

Marshall Cohen is one of the last of the old masters. His job, for more than four decades, has been to personally select from the tons and tons of fresh produce that roll through the Ontario Food Terminal every day, the best and freshest fruits and vegetables possible. It's an art form, and he's widely regarded as the best around.

The terminal itself, the largest fruit and vegetable wholesale market in Canada, is a uniquely fascinat...

As you may have heard (over and over again), travel to the United States by Canadians is way down. Other countries are also avoiding the US, whether due to political stances or security concerns. But Canadians, Europeans and others are still part of the post-pandemic travel boom. So where are they going? You got it!

Canadians are looking to explore their own country more than ever before. Foreigners are still looking to visit North ...