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Issue #13 09.16.2026
The weekly standup
Everything you need to know before you have to microwave your coffee (for the first time).
🛒
Four in ten Canadian shoppers now ask AI what to buy
🧀
The U.S. just banned Canadian cheese and booze outright
💰
2027 raises are holding at 3%: but not for everyone equally
The office chatter ☕
What everyone’s pretending not to read during meetings.
💰
Raises are playing it safe (again)
Mercer’s survey of nearly 500 Canadian employers found 2027 salary budgets holding steady at around 3%, the third flat year running. The bigger shift is where the money goes: targeted raises for critical roles and top performers. Peanut butter spreading is out. Precision is in (Benefits Canada).
🧀
The trade war just went dry
Trump signed orders banning most Canadian dairy and alcohol imports outright, effective September 29; retaliation for Canada’s counter-tariffs. The national number is $778 million. The problem: for the wineries and dairies affected, the U.S. was 70 to 95% of export sales. Small line on the country’s books. Whole line on somebody’s (Global News).
Like what you’re reading?
The breakroom bulletin 📌
What’s hot, what’s not and what’s all for show.
Getting promoted 📈
🇪🇺
Canada and the EU are making it official(ish)
Canada and the EU are set to unveil a sweeping new partnership. For businesses tired of tariff whiplash, a second dance partner sounds pretty good right now (The Peak).
🛒
“What’s for dinner” just got outsourced
Instacart’s new AI assistant Clementine turns conversations, recipes and photos of handwritten grocery lists into ready-to-order carts for Canadian and U.S. shoppers. The weekly meal plan may be the first chore AI actually takes off your plate (Retail Insider).
On a PIP 📉
📦
50,000 businesses didn’t sign up for this
The CFIB says over 53,000 Canadian businesses are directly caught in the tariff crossfire. Support programs are moving at government speed. The tariffs aren’t (Retail Insider).
📉
The future workforce is buffering
Canadian students just posted their lowest-ever math and reading scores in a global OECD assessment. Cold comfort: the class of 2031 is in the pipeline now, and training may be shifting from perk to necessity.
Corporate Theatre 🎭
📚
Diplomacy by welcome sign
B.C. unveiled new border signs declaring the province “strong, proud, and will NEVER be the 51st state. Sorry!” Only in Canada does a declaration of sovereignty come with an apology built in (Global News).
📬
Now hiring: miracle worker, must love mail
Canada Post’s CEO is retiring, and Ottawa has posted the search for a successor. The posting says complex organization. The financials say good luck (Government of Canada).
Ideas worth stealing 💡
🚪
Eight million customers are checking your door
About 27% of Canadians live with a disability, and most hit an accessibility barrier last year. Accessibility consultant Pamela Shainhouse’s point: that’s not a compliance line item; it’s a loyalty opportunity most of your competitors are still ignoring (Retail Insider).
🎓
Free AI training just entered the chat
Ottawa’s new National AI Literacy Initiative will offer a free bilingual AI course, reaching workers and job seekers through the federal Job Bank later this year. If AI guilt is the barrier to adoption, a national permission slip can’t hurt (BetaKit).
The Thing I Can’t Stop Thinking About 🧠
The new storefront is a conversation
📖
The story
Salesforce data: 39% of Canadian shoppers used AI to shop this year, and roughly one in ten now start there. 89% of Canadian commerce pros expect AI to be essential to product discovery within a year.
📶
The signal
Discovery is moving inside AI conversations, and the old playbook doesn’t transfer: SEO is giving way to GEO, attribution goes dark, and nobody knows the ranking formula yet. When the rules are unwritten, incumbency stops being an advantage.
🛫
The takeaway
Small businesses have a rare head start: the thing AI systems reward is clean, accurate, well-structured product data — which is easier to have when you’re small. The question isn’t whether customers will shop through AI. It’s whether they’ll be able to find you when they do (Retail Insider).
Smart people saying smart things 💬
One post, tweet or take that’s making people in the world of work stop scrolling.
This week, Alex Hormozi offered the least glamorous success framework you’ll read all year. No hacks, no morning routine, no cold plunge. Just effort, multiplied by time.
When asked for the secret to success, I think the most underrated and overlooked strategy is trying really really really hard for a very very long time. Works for everyone I know who’s done it.
— Alex Hormozi (@AlexHormozi) September 5, 2026
My music at work 🎵
One song helping us survive another week of impromptu Slack huddles.
The last thing before we jump 🦘
Strange week. The U.S. slammed the door on Canadian cheese and wine, and within days Canada was drafting vows with the EU. Meanwhile, four in ten Canadian shoppers quietly started asking AI what to buy.
Different stories, same lesson: the ground is moving, and waiting for it to settle isn’t a strategy. The businesses that come out ahead won’t be the ones that predicted this week. They’ll be the ones that were too busy adapting to be surprised by it.
See you next week.
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