Ad campaign aims to bring Americans back to Canada; a Gen Z unemployment spike: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet

CBC

8 hours ago

Canadian tourism groups use friendly ads to woo back Americans
4 days ago
Duration 2:07
With cross-border travel plummeting since the start of the U.S.-Canada trade war, Canadian tourism groups are trying to lure back American tourists with friendly ad campaigns that assure them they're still welcome despite tensions between the two countries.
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Fewer Americans are visiting Canada. Ad campaigns assure them they're welcome here
Late last year, Dan Davis of Cleveland began planning a motorcycle trip with friends this summer that includes several days in Ontario.
But those plans became a little uncertain after U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January and imposed tariffs on Canada, sparking a trade war. That, coupled with Trump's frequent threats to make Canada the 51st state, has sparked anger among many Canadians.
Davis noted that, in February, Canadians booed the U.S. national anthem at several NHL games, and in March, the Canadian government ran a billboard campaign in a dozen U.S. states, including Ohio, declaring that Trump's "tariffs are a tax."
"Those things just made us wonder, 'Wow, are we going to be welcome in Canada?'" said Davis, adding that the licence plates on the group's motorcycles reveal they're from Ohio — a state Trump won in the 2024 election.
"On a motorcycle, you're a little more vulnerable," he said. "All it takes is one person to say, 'You know what, I'm going to show these guys a lesson,' whether it's vandalizing a bike or … throwing a beer can at you."
Since Trump took office and Canada-U.S. relations have become strained, fewer Canadians are visiting the U.S., and fewer Americans are coming to Canada.
The number of trips Americans took to Canada by car declined 10.7 per cent in April and 8.4 per cent in May compared with the same time last year. Air travel declined 5.5 per cent in April and 0.3 per cent in May.
Some tourism associations worry a number of Americans may be staying away because they fear a chilly reception, so they've launched ad campaigns that assure their neighbours they'll be warmly welcomed.
from CBC's Sophia Harris.
Gen Z is facing the worst youth unemployment rate in decades. Here is how it's different
Graduation cap in hand, Sarah Chung is posing for photos in school regalia ahead of her convocation ceremony. The campus atmosphere is joyful, but what comes next is sobering: This honours student is graduating into one of the worst youth labour markets seen in decades.
"It's bleak," said the 23-year-old graduate of the University of Calgary's media and communications program. She hasn't been able to find a job in her field and said she intends to pursue a master's degree.
"I believe that it's tough just because of everything that's happening with the economy, with our society and with politics," she said. "There's a whole [lot] of talk about 'there's a recession coming.' I'm not an economist, but I can also see it as well."
Chung is part of a generation facing Canada's highest youth unemployment rate in about a quarter-century.
Apart from the pandemic, Canadian graduates between the ages of 15 and 24 are facing the highest unemployment rate this country has seen since the mid-1990s, according to first-quarter data from Statistics Canada.
At that time, Jean Chrétien was Canada's prime minister, Gen Z was but a twinkle in their parents' eyes and the global workforce had yet to be transformed by social media, gig work and artificial intelligence.
Fast forward to 2025, and Canada's youngest workers are grappling with a perfect storm of economic conditions: an inflation crisis that came on the heels of a pandemic; a surge in population growth that has outpaced the number of available jobs; and now, a country teetering closer to recession as the U.S. trade war wreaks uncertainty on the economy.
One expert says youth unemployment can be a "canary in the coal mine" that foreshadows broader troubles in the labour market.
"It's kind of an early warning indicator," said Tricia Williams, director of research at Future Skills Centre, a Toronto Metropolitan University lab dedicated to studying the future of work.
"It's not just about getting jobs and skills experience. It's about the larger structural supports and the environment that young people are coming into."
Read more of the story by CBC's Jenna Benchetrit.
Federal government to put latest Canada Post offer up for union vote
Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said Thursday she's putting Canada Post's latest offers to unionized postal workers up for a vote in the hope of breaking a long-standing impasse between the parties.
She said in a social media post it's in the "public interest" to give members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) an opportunity to vote on the offers, which Canada Post said are its "final" proposals.
Hajdu said the Canada Industrial Relations Board will be directed to conduct the vote "as soon as possible."
CUPW, which represents about 55,000 mail workers, has pushed back on the idea of a membership vote on the latest offer. The union accused the employer of being "not serious about meaningful arbitration" in a bulletin sent to members on Tuesday.
Hajdu asked the parties on June 4 to work out terms for binding arbitration — a process that would see a third party attempt to hash out a collective agreement. Read more.
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