17 Practical, Handy Amazon Canada Products That You'll Be Happy You Ordered
Useful finds for your home, handbag, pet, and beyond.
If you're on the hunt for useful products that'll make your life easier without emptying your savings account, we're here to help. We've dug deep into Amazon Canada to find things that are equal parts practical and affordable. Whether you need to cure a bug bite, help your plants grow, or prep your salad, we've got your back.
Here are a few useful Amazon home products worth adding to your cart:
Sign up for an Amazon Prime account if Amazon Canada is your go-to site for shopping. It costs $99 a year (plus tax), but students can get it for only $49 (plus tax). If you've never tried it out, you can sign up for a 30-day trial period.
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Disclaimer: The prices displayed are accurate at the time of publication. We'll do our best to keep them as up-to-date as possible, but you may see slight changes.
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CBC
39 minutes ago
- CBC
Skepticism, cautious optimism as work on Somerset House begins
Social Sharing There's skepticism about whether substantial renewal work has finally begun on Somerset House, which has sat derelict for nearly 18 years in the heart of Ottawa's Centretown neighbourhood. The 129-year-old building at the corner of Bank Street and Somerset Street W. partially collapsed in October 2007. The eastern half of the building was demolished nine years later, while the western half has been boarded up since the collapse. New work on the building began at the start of June, but for those who've been following the Somerset House saga, there's still doubt as to whether it will ever be fully restored. 'Blot on the landscape' "It's better than we've seen for a long time," Linda Hoad told CBC as she looked out onto the concrete foundation that had been laid and what appeared to be fresh wood on the basement floor. As co-chair of the Heritage Ottawa advocacy committee, she's been attuned to what's been happening with Somerset House and says she's now "cautiously optimistic." "It's a blot on the landscape — and on the reputation of the city, to some extent," Hoad said. "We've seen more work done these past two weeks than we have for I don't know how many years," she added. "But we aren't counting on anything at this time." Once home to hotels, pubs The three-storey downtown building has a long history. Built in 1896, Somerset House was originally a department store for the Crosby, Carruthers Company. It then transformed into a series of hotels and pubs, including the Lockmaster and the Duke of Somerset. According to the city, permits to restore the building — which would include 14 apartments and two businesses —were issued in 2023, but as a private property it remained the owner's decision as to when the work would be done. Lesley Collins, program manager of heritage planning with the city, wrote in a statement to CBC that work is "actively underway" to repair and stabilize the building. CBC contacted building owner Tony Shahrasebi twice but did not hear back. With little done to Somerset House over the last 18 years, many people have been using similar words as Hoad has to describe the building's progress — or lack thereof. "That's been part of the problem is that every time, there's a promise to move ahead," said Ottawa Centre MPP Catherine McKenney. "It drags out. Next thing you know, another six months, year, two years has gone by. And here we are, 18 years later, and nothing has been done on that building." McKenney, the former two-term councillor for Somerset ward, also said the building has been an "eyesore" since long before they joined city council. They said they've watched various parts of the building rot away, including around the windows and window wells. 'Poster child for demolition by neglect' Ariel Troster, the ward's current councillor, has also seen the building deteriorate, calling it "the poster child for demolition by neglect." "People are right to be concerned, and they're right to be cynical. The reality is that we don't have a lot of tools to compel a property owner to take care of their property, to develop it and to do those added renovations," Troster said. The city can fine someone under the Property Standards Act if a property is falling apart, Troster said, and can send bylaw officers when there are maintenance complaints. But "when it comes to carrot and stick, we don't really have a big stick," she added. In a September 2023 report, the city said 19 orders had been issued since 2007 against the property under the Building Code Act. There had also been 31 calls to bylaw, resulting in 11 violation notices and six property standards orders. In that report, staff said that aside from the removal of the easterly wing in 2016, nothing had been done to the property. But Troster also said there are rumblings of a possible plan to impose a vacant commercial property tax on buildings like Somerset House, left vacant for years, similar to the residential vacant unit tax. On Tuesday, the built heritage committee also approved additional money for owners of heritage properties on a stretch of Bank and Somerset streets to improve those buildings' facades — including the windows, brickwork and heritage signage. While also skeptical that significant repairs are underway, Jack Hanna, co-chair of the planning committee of the Centretown Community Association, said he hopes the once "magnificent" Somerset House — with its exquisite masonry and a six-metre sheet metal spire that soared up on its leading corner — eventually returns to its original glory.
CBC
39 minutes ago
- CBC
Carney's first foreign policy test begins at G7 — amid Middle East crisis and Trump's trade war
Prime Minister Mark Carney will welcome leaders of the world's most powerful democratic countries Sunday for the start of a three-day meeting in the Rocky Mountains — a high-stakes summit that longtime G7 observers say could be one of the most consequential in years. Carney's priorities for this gathering in Kananaskis, Alta., reflect the challenges of our time: war and peace, energy security with a focus on critical minerals and artificial intelligence and "securing the partnerships of the future," according to the Prime Minister's Office. This will include talk about U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive trade actions against Canada and other G7 countries. And as parts of Western Canada go up in flames, Carney has also put wildfires on the agenda. The leaders will discuss bolstering joint responses to climate disasters and some sort of "wildfire charter" is expected. Israel's strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and military sites, which began Friday, could overshadow the discussions on the official agenda. The guest list for the summit, which includes India's Narendra Modi, has drawn some domestic criticism but Carney has argued that big global challenges should be addressed by the world's big players — even if there are some lingering tensions. WATCH | How this G7 summit will differ from 2018: Why won't there be a leaders' communique coming out of next week's G7? | Power & Politics 2 days ago Duration 14:19 The Power Panel discusses the strategy behind Prime Minister Mark Carney's decision to forego a final communique at next week's G7 leaders' summit that will be attended by President Donald Trump. "It's a landmark summit because never before have these leaders had to confront so many strong, simultaneously interconnected crises," said John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto. Kirton is pleased with the guest list Carney has assembled, saying there are more leaders of consequence coming to Kananaskis than perhaps any other such meeting in recent memory. In addition to the G7 members and India, Brazil, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Ukraine, Mexico and Australia — the secretaries general of the UN, NATO and EU along with the head of the World Bank will be there for at least part of the proceedings. When Trudeau hosted in 2018, Canada's guest list included leaders from "overwhelmingly little countries" with a focus on those facing endangered by rising shorelines like Jamaica, the Marshall Islands and the Seychelles, Kirton said. "Carney's list — it's a great one," Kirton told CBC News. "If you really want to lead the world, and not just the G7 part of the world, then you want the next tier of the biggest leaders there at the table." Leaders will begin to arrive Sunday and then be ferried by helicopter to the summit site. Monday's session will be broadly focused on the economy and "economic peace," and then security matters, government officials said in a background briefing. The second day will be when the non-G7 leaders will be brought in. It's also when Ukraine will be a major focus. Carney personally invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss a path forward for that war-torn country. Trump has been hostile to Ukraine at times as he pushes for a swift resolution to the war Russia started — but he has largely maintained U.S. military support and anti-Russia sanctions despite some of his tough talk. On trade and Ukraine, the summit's success will depend on what Trump does or does not do, said Fen Hampson, a professor of international relations and the co-chair of the expert group on Canada-U.S. relations at Carleton University. "Even when it comes to his tech bro buddies, things can go sideways pretty quickly," Hampson said. "That's really the big risk here — does the president arrive in a good mood willing to do business, or is he in a bad mood?" While he's not expecting Trump to drop all of his tariffs after a few days in the mountains, Hampson said a U.S. "commitment to work together in a positive way" and revisit trade actions could be spun as a win by Carney. A commitment from Trump to stay the course in Ukraine would also be well-received by Carney and the Europeans in the room, Hampson said. To secure that sort of shift, Europe may commit to dropping policies that irritate Trump, including its digital services tax, while Canada could play up its newfound commitment to a stronger military and more defence spending, longtime U.S. demands, Hampson said. But depending on Trump to play nice is a risky proposition, he said. "Carney is more than just the head waiter at this meeting," Hampson said. "This is going to be a real test of his own negotiating skills." Increasing tensions in the Middle East after Israel launched airstrikes in Iran will further test Carney. Iran fired dozens of missiles toward Israel hours later. "With Israel's attack on Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran-Israel dynamics have to be at least informally on the agenda," University of Ottawa political science professor Thomas Juneau said. "It makes Prime Minister Carney's job way more complicated than it already was." No joint communique Unlike at past G7 summits, Canada is not planning to get all leaders to agree to a joint communique — a sometimes unwieldy list of priorities and accomplishments that all countries agree to sign. Instead, Canada has been working with the other countries ahead of time to secure leaders' approval on a series of short, joint statements focused on concrete actions and outcomes in key areas, a senior government official said ahead of the summit. This strategy could be interpreted as a way to avoid what befell the 2018 G7 meeting Canada hosted in Charlevoix, Que. Trump did not want to sign on to a series of climate change-focused measures — something former prime minister Justin Trudeau made a priority at those talks despite Trump's well-known hostility to environmentalism. The president ultimately agreed to the joint communique while withholding U.S. support for some green measures — but then torpedoed G7 unity entirely in a series of post-summit tweets, saying he was offended by what Trudeau said at a closing news conference. Rather than squabble over policy measures Trump will never support, Carney is focused on getting G7 leaders to coalesce around things that have a reasonable chance of garnering a consensus, a senior government official said. The government is framing this agenda as a more streamlined, focused document than the last one. Trudeau, by comparison, tried to get G7 support for 28 areas of agreement in Charlevoix. Trump may be the sticking point on trade and Ukraine, but Kirton said Carney's program suggests Canada is setting up this meeting to be a success on other issues. "If you're going to hit home runs, you really need the U.S. to go along with you. On many of Mark Carney's priorities, it's easy to see Donald Trump agreeing," he said, referring to defence spending, AI and a move to crack down on deadly drugs like fentanyl. "Carney has said he wants Canada to be a global leader. This is the way to make that happen — if he can pull it all together on the spot."
CBC
39 minutes ago
- CBC
How the trade war with the U.S. could fix Canada's internet
When life hands you tariffs, fix the internet. At least, that's what Cory Doctorow hopes might happen. Because, he says, Canada's internet is in desperate need of saving. "We created a policy environment that rewards companies and executives who do things that are bad for the internet and bad for internet users, and that does not punish them when they do things that harm us," said Doctorow, a tech journalist, activist, and host of the CBC podcast Understood: Who Broke the Internet?. He believes that the current trade troubles could actually free Canada to fix how it polices the internet — more in line with the rest of the world, but less restrictive than the U.S. That's because the current state of Canada's internet policy is directly connected to trade pressure — specifically tariff threats — surrounding internet and copyright law from the United States decades ago. But since free trade with our southern neighbours is already in turmoil, Doctorow says it's time to unlock our internet by removing laws that benefit big tech companies, and opening up access for users. The start of internet laws Like many countries, Canada's internet laws can be traced back to two treaties from the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996. It asked signatories to protect copyrights online. Canada signed the two treaties, but wouldn't ratify them until over a decade later. But the U.S. moved quickly and ratified its version of copyright laws in 1999, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce, says the American act heavily favoured copyright holders, but held few protections for users. And the U.S. wanted other countries to follow their lead. "They then oftentimes either use direct bilateral trade pressure or trade agreements to try to take that U.S. position and make it the standard for how you implement a treaty that was otherwise very flexible in nature," said Geist. In 2007, Stephen Harper's Conservative government introduced a bill that Geist says was basically a Canadian version of the DMCA. Geist said that for decades, copyright laws in Canada protected the copyright holder, without limiting how a person could use a product. But the new bill allowed for digital locks on software, which are technologies used to protect copyrighted content and prevent people from tinkering with the program. "This idea that you could use technology, now aided by legislation, to effectively remove or lock users out of what is their rights struck me as enormously problematic," said Geist. What are digital locks, and why do they matter? One example of a digital lock, says Doctorow, is how Apple prevents iPhone users from downloading third-party apps onto the device. Apple says it's for your protection, as it vets the apps in its store to prevent you from downloading anything harmful. But because of the digital lock, Apple is also able to take 30 per cent of the cost of every purchase made on its app store without any competition. And Doctorow says its argument of security doesn't exactly check out. "This is no longer about you trusting Apple and choosing Apple. This is about Apple requiring you to trust them," said Doctorow. "Any time someone puts a lock on something that belongs to you and doesn't give you the key, that lock isn't there for your benefit." Following pushback from Geist and others on the initial proposed bill, the government introduced a new version. But much to Geist's disappointment, it still had those digital locks he was concerned about. The reason? The U.S. threatened that if locks weren't included, Canada could say goodbye to tariff-free trade with the United States. "The U.S. had been clear that it wanted copyright reform, but even more than just any old copyright reform, it wanted U.S.-style legal protections for these digital locks," said Geist. "If there was one thing this legislation was going to do, it was going to remove this ongoing trade irritant with the United States." The bill was pushed through and labelled Bill C-11. And its impact was felt quickly. Doctorow says people working on accessibility software to programs they didn't own, such as screen readers for ebooks, had to stop, because they were worried about what digital locks might be waiting for them. A group that was building tools to access public government data had to halt their work because their lawyers advised them it could get them in trouble. "What happened was you saw a procession of extremely abusive technologies creating the opportunities for extremely high margins at the expense of Canadian consumers. And no Canadian company stepped up to bypass or correct these market failures," said Doctorow. That's because, thanks to digital locks, they legally couldn't. James Moore, the heritage minister at the time, told CBC in an email that he still agrees and supports the bill, saying "Canada has obligations to our trading partners to protect [intellectual property]." What can be done Canada's trade relationship with the U.S. is now more uncertain than ever, thanks to President Donald Trump's unpredictable regime of tariffs. But even though it's a bad situation, Doctorow says, it's an opportunity for Canada to do something it should've done before. Since it was trade pressure that pushed Canada to go above and beyond what the WIPO treaties required, and that trade situation is in flux, Doctorow says Canada has the chance to change its digital copyright laws to something more in line with the rest of the world, and isn't as restrictive as the U.S.'s laws. "We could change our law so that it was only illegal to break a digital lock if you also infringed someone's copyright. You don't have to infringe anyone's copyright to install your own app store on your iPhone," said Doctorow. The European Union moved in this direction in April, by fining Apple 500 million euro ($788-million Cdn) for not allowing third-party app stores on its phones. The fine was issued under the EU's Digital Markets Act, designed to give consumers and businesses more choice and prevent big tech companies from cornering digital markets. This wouldn't just give you more freedom on your phone, says Doctorow. It also means a company like Apple would have to compete with other companies to earn your business. Tinkerers and innovators in Canada could build ways to improve all aspects of how we use the internet, says Doctorow, converting the internet from a walled garden to a public space. But Geist isn't so confident it will happen. "I fear that … in our zeal to deal with the very real threats that we see from Trump on tariffs and on a number of other things with respect to Canada, we'll give on some issues simply because the hope will be that that will be enough to address some of these other concerns that are ultimately seen as even more significant," said Geist.
