CTRL+WORK
The weekly standup
Everything you need to know before you have to microwave your coffee for the first time.
- 🤖 GPT-5.6 is here. The AI race has entered a new phase.
- 📦 Canadian small businesses are rewriting their playbooks because of tariffs.
- 🎓 Universities are rethinking how they get paid — and it’s raising eyebrows.
The office chatter ☕
What’s making the rounds this week.
🎓 Universities are rethinking their business model
Some Canadian universities are exploring ways to take an equity stake in their students rather than relying solely on tuition. It’s a controversial idea, but it raises a bigger question: what happens when an institution only succeeds if its graduates do?
Source: The Peak
🤖 AI isn’t the problem: The guilt is
Nearly half of Canadian workers say they feel guilty using AI at work. The biggest barrier to adoption may not be the technology; it’s workplace culture. If employees think using AI looks like cutting corners, they’re less likely to use it, even when it helps them work better.
Source: Employment Hero
The breakroom bulletin 📌
What’s hot, what’s not and what’s all for show.
Getting Promoted
🏗️ Canada’s AI infrastructure is getting an upgrade
Meta is planning a massive AI data centre in Alberta. The next wave of AI isn’t just being written in code; it’s being built in concrete and steel.
Source: CBC News
🎬 Reality TV just gave Muskoka a very expensive tourism ad
Summer House Canada will put Ontario cottage country in front of millions of viewers. Local businesses are getting camera-ready before fans start coming in for a close-up.
Source: CBC
On a PIP
🏪 Empty doesn’t mean available
Vacant storefronts are everywhere in Toronto, but ask a small business owner and they’ll tell you finding affordable retail space is anything but easy.
Source: The Peak
📦 Businesses are rewriting the map
Tariffs aren’t just increasing costs, they’re changing where Canadian small businesses buy, sell and invest. One-third have already shifted away from U.S. suppliers or customers.
Source: CFIB
Corporate Theatre
📚 Turns out the algorithm isn’t winning everything
Book sales are climbing as more Canadians swap screen time for page-turning. After years of chasing every new app and streaming service, the bookshelf is making a comeback.
Source: The Peak
⚖️ The exit interview just got a lot more expensive
A group of former Bell employees is taking BCE to court over their dismissals. Workplace culture doesn’t end when someone resigns or gets laid off.
Source: Ottawa Sun
Ideas Worth Stealing
🏒 The biggest businesses don’t just compete: They consolidate
Rogers is tightening its grip on Canadian sports, betting that exclusive content keeps customers loyal. Differentiation matters, but so does controlling how people discover you.
Source: The Peak
🏠 Pay attention to where your people can afford to live
Rents are falling in many Canadian cities, which could give employers a little more flexibility when hiring or retaining staff in expensive markets.
Source: CBC News
What I Can’t Stop Thinking About 🧠
GPT-5.6 isn’t the story
📖 The story
OpenAI has unveiled GPT-5.6 and is expanding access to its latest models, making some of its most capable AI available to more people and businesses.
📶 The signal
For the past two years, the race has been about getting access to AI. Today, that’s becoming table stakes. OpenAI’s latest release is another reminder that powerful AI is quickly becoming available to everyone, not just the biggest companies.
🛫 The takeaway
Stop chasing every new model. Instead, pick one part of your business that’s slower, more repetitive or more frustrating than it should be, and see if AI can improve it. The businesses getting the most value from AI aren’t experimenting more — they’re applying it better.
Smart People Saying Smart Things 💬
One post, tweet or take that’s making people in the world of work stop scrolling. This week, a Google Cloud engineer shows why AI isn’t replacing developers: it’s changing who can build.
“A Google Cloud engineer just showed how to build a full app with Claude from scratch. He spent 26 minutes showing exactly what one person with Claude can do, completely free. The exact workflow they use at Google, no team, no prior experience needed.”
My Music at Work 🎵
One song helping us survive another week of impromptu Slack huddles.
The Last Thing Before We Jump 🦘
Business rarely changes overnight. It changes one headline at a time: A new AI model, universities rethinking tuition or a sudden shift in consumer behaviour. Miss one story and nothing happens.
Miss them all, and suddenly you’re playing catch-up.
See you next week.
