Thousands of N.L. commercial trade workers looking for work as megaprojects wrap up
Trades N.L. estimates 74 per cent of its members are out of work in this province. The CBC's Jenna Head takes a look at the reasons why, and how they're keeping their skills sharp.
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Globe and Mail
21 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Making AI work for your business is all about picking the right tasks
Ellen Hyslop knew for artificial intelligence to be useful it had to boost efficiency, without dulling creativity. At Canadian sports media company The Gist, where she and her team are rethinking day-to-day operations, AI is being adopted with a clear purpose: 'to do things that we need to be doing in the most efficient and useful way possible [without compromising] the quality and creativity of the work that we do,' she says. Founded in 2017 by Ms. Hyslop, Roslyn McLarty and Jacie deHoop, The Gist is a women-led company that offers equal coverage of men's and women's sports via newsletters and a podcast. Last year, the brand hit one million newsletter subscribers, a milestone that Ms. Hyslop says speaks to its reputation for consistently delivering high-quality content that champions gender equality. So, while growth is an important strategic goal, Ms. Hyslop says it was important to be thoughtful about how exactly they'd use this technology. 'We can more heavily focus on using AI [on] tasks that are high-effort and low-impact,' Ms. Hyslop explains. 'That's where we're encouraging our team to test, learn and try things that work in their individual processes and also where we're implementing AI as a business. On the other hand, we're not involving AI in low-effort and high-impact tasks.' For example, the company uses AI to analyze data around audience behaviour so they can better understand what's landing with their readers and listeners and even identify areas of opportunity for new content. Meanwhile, on the tech side, the team is using AI to write one-off codes that can help the company organize all of its data, as well as help sync data between different platforms. 'We use [a number of different programs] and we have to use different scripts to ensure that all of the data from all those different places is actually speaking to each other,' she says. This approach is exactly the one recommended by Biren Agnihotri, chief technology officer at EY Canada and lead for the company's AI practice, whose role gives him sightlines into a broad range of companies that are integrating AI into their operations. 'Companies succeed when they narrowly focus AI on high-friction, repeatable tasks that require language generation or summarization, not broad, uncontrolled automation,' he says. 'The winning pattern is targeted use case, human oversight and clear ROI (return on investment).' This holds true regardless of sector or size. Mr. Agnihotri cites examples from across industries, including a financial services company that leveraged generative AI to create regulatory reporting drafts and risk summaries, a SaaS company that 'tied AI to their product roadmap and embedded it in their SaaS platform for customer-facing value,' and a manufacturing company that uses AI for parts classification, supplier queries and maintenance logs. That's not to say there aren't real challenges to implementing AI, notes Kristina McElheran, assistant professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto Scarborough and the Rotman School of Management. 'Mid-market firms are stuck in the 'messy middle,' where they lack the economies of scale that make AI adoption – and the adjustment costs it entails – worthwhile. At the same time, they are bigger and harder to transform than smaller, more nimble firms,' she says. 'So, for these firms, a lot is going to hinge on how they manage the costs that AI adoption entails. Those that have strong change management skills and the right oversight practices in place may actually do better than smaller firms that lack the dedicated resources for this. It will be hard to match the really big firms, however, for the benefits of sheer scale when it comes to AI. The leading edge of adoption for a long time has been among the largest firms and I don't think that is an accident.' Cost isn't the only factor. A lack of buy-in from executive leadership, the absence of dedicated compliance and legal teams, volatility in the AI vendor ecosystem and cybersecurity and IP risks can also be serious obstacles. But, perhaps, the biggest challenge for any business is uncertainty. 'Uncertainty around AI isn't just a technical concern, it's a strategic risk,' Mr. Agnihotri says. 'We've seen that [small and mid-size businesses] can't afford to 'experiment and fail fast' the way large enterprises can. As a result, many stall at the pilot stage, unsure whether to commit further investment or scale back.' The best way to combat this ambiguity is to get very practical. Instead of setting lofty goals around AI transformation, identify the highest-friction tasks in your organization, such as creating reports, summarizing meetings, generating customer emails or responding to FAQs. Determine how you'd measure success (time saved, errors reduced or even how much output increased), then do so via a manageable, replicable pilot project. You likely don't need a custom learning model or proprietary software; instead, lean on the AI tools that are embedded in the programs your company already uses. And don't underestimate the importance of centring your staff. This means training employees on how to prompt, validate results and recognize when not to use AI; ensuring that your new workflows have people validating, editing or approving results; and, most importantly, creating an AI policy that covers data usage, workflows and prohibited tasks. 'Even a light-touch governance model is better than none and it signals responsibility and reduces future cleanup,' Mr. Agnihotri says. At The Gist, these conversations have always been part of the process of implementing AI – and they'll continue to be part of future AI adoption plans. 'Here's the thing: change is hard,' Ms. Hyslop says. '[But] change management is nothing new to businesses and change management is something that all founders, business operators and business leaders need to understand. Our leadership and tech teams [understand] AI is another change management thing that we need to be thinking about – in the same way that tariffs are, in the same way that the economy is.'
National Post
29 minutes ago
- National Post
Former Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove has died
TORONTO — Canada's largest private-sector union says former Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove has died. Article content In a statement Sunday, Unifor says Basil 'Buzz' Hargrove was 'a beloved and iconic figure in Canada's labour movement' who 'was a tireless advocate for working people and a deeply respected leader.' Article content Article content Hargrove was national president of the CAW from 1992 until his retirement in 2008, shortly before he reached the union's mandatory retirement age of 65. Article content Article content The CAW merged with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union in 2013 to become Unifor. Article content Article content Born in Bath, N.B., in 1944, Hargrove grew up in a family of 10 children and began his working life on the shop floor of Chrysler's Windsor, Ont., assembly plant, Unifor says. Article content 'He never forgot where he came from — and he carried that working-class spirit with him into every boardroom, bargaining session and public forum,' said Unifor National President Lana Payne in the union's statement. 'His passion, his intellect, and his uncompromising belief in justice for working people shaped the labour movement we know today.' Article content Hargrove took over leadership of the CAW from Bob White, who led the union as it split from the U.S.-based United Auto Workers in 1985. Article content The Canadian union, which disagreed with the UAW's bargaining direction, negotiated some of the richest contracts for workers in Canada, and under Hargrove's leadership it expanded beyond the auto industry into other sectors, including airlines, mines and fisheries. Article content Article content Unifor said that Hargrove was 'a committed social unionist,' and pushed the CAW to fight for broader social justice issues including public health care, retirement security, equity, and fair trade. Article content Article content 'We owe him a debt of gratitude for everything he did to build a fairer Canada,' Payne added. Article content His later activities included over a year with the NHL Players' Association, working first on the union's advisory board and then as interim ombudsman. He also served as director of the Centre for Labour Management Relations at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University. Article content
CTV News
42 minutes ago
- CTV News
The Daily Chase: Carney and Trump to meet at G7
Here are five things you need to know this morning Carney and Trump to meet at G7: The eyes of the world have turned to Kananaskis, Alberta, as the G7 meeting gets underway. Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the summit this morning. The meeting comes weeks into regular calls and text messages between Carney and Trump as they try to resolve an economic spat caused by Trump's various tariffs. Carney is also leading discussions today on safety issues and artificial intelligence, while meeting with leaders from places including Japan, France and Italy. Over the weekend, Carney met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with the two agreeing to establish a new working group to deepen trade ties. BNN Bloomberg will have extensive coverage of the G7 meeting, including live hits with reporters from Bloomberg News and CTV News. Airbus kicks off Paris Air Show: Airbus has kicked off the first day of the big Paris Air Show with two orders from Saudi Arabian customers valued at as much as US$17 billion. The deals give the European planemaker an early lead over Boeing, which scaled back its activity at the event following a recent crash involving one of its jets. As Bloomberg News reports, even before the disaster set back Boeing's plans, Airbus was set to have a strong showing in Paris. A number of Boeing deals were announced during Trump's tour through the Middle East last month, leaving Airbus on the sidelines as the U.S. president played the role of head salesman for his U.S. rival. U.S. Steel deal gets go-ahead: Shares of U.S. Steel traded higher in the premarket after Trump approved its controversial merger with Japan's Nippon Steel. Trump issued an executive order on Friday that allowed U.S. Steel and Nippon to finalize their merger so long as they signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government. U.S. Steel says the national security agreement includes a golden share for the U.S. government, without specifying what powers the government would wield with its share. Trump says that the golden share gives the U.S. president 'total control.' Renault CEO trying on some Gucci: Kering SA shares surged as the owner of the struggling Gucci fashion label prepared to name the chief executive officer of Renault SA as its next CEO in a bid for a turnaround. Luca de Meo will be appointed to the job in the coming days, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg News. Renault shares slumped as it wasn't immediately clear who will succeed De Meo, who is credited for bringing the company back from tough times. WestJet cybersecurity incident: WestJet continues to manage an ongoing cybersecurity incident that started interrupting access to some of its systems on Friday. The Calgary-based airline says its mobile app was affected with several users having difficulty accessing the platform. The airline says employees and guests should take caution when entering personal information. WestJet says its operations remain safe and unaffected.
