Mistakes happen, but consumers have good reason to be outraged when U.S. produce is presented under a Canadian flag
Canadian-grown hydroponic lettuce and Mexican tomatoes have replaced California strawberries on the shopping list. At first, savvy shoppers (like me) donned reading glasses and read the fine print on a label, looking for that golden word, Canada. Then, as time wore on, grocery store chains such as Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro began putting up signage directing us to made in Canada or product of Canada items. It made shopping Canadian a lot easier — or so I thought.
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Winnipeg Free Press
30 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Illegal immigration hit a record-high of 14 million in the US in 2023, Pew report finds
The number of people in the United States illegally surged to an all-time high of 14 million in 2023, a research group said Thursday, a major increase that still falls well short of estimates from President Donald Trump and some critics of immigration. The Pew Research Center's closely watched gauge rose from 11.8 million a year earlier and surpassed the previous high of 12.2 million in 2007. The increase was driven by some 6 million who were in the country with some form of legal protection. Trump has stripped many of those protections since taking office in January. Pew, whose estimates date back to 1990, said that, while 2023 is its latest full analysis, preliminary findings show the number rose in 2024, though at a slower rate after then-President Joe Biden severely restricted asylum at the border in June of that year. The number dropped this year under Trump, but is still likely above 14 million. While the findings are unlikely to settle debate, Pew's report is one of the most complete attempts to measure illegal immigration. Nearly all the increase came from countries other than Mexico. Guatemala, El Salvador and India accounted for the largest numbers after Mexico. Totals from Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Ukraine and Peru each more than doubled in two years. Trump said in an address to Congress in March that 21 million people 'poured into the United States' during the previous four years, far exceeding estimates from Pew and what figures on border arrests suggest. The Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group largely aligned with his policies, estimated 18.6 million in March. The Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors immigration restrictions, reported that there were 14.2 million people in the U.S. illegally last month, down from a peak of 15.8 million in January. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem touted the reported drop of 1.6 million in six months. 'This is massive,' she said in a press release last week. Noem's own department, through its Office of Homeland Security Statistics, estimates there were 11 million people in the U.S. illegally in 2022, its most recent count. The Center for Migration Studies, author of another closely watched survey, most recently pegged the number at 12.2 million in 2022, topping its previous high of 12 million in 2008. Pew's findings, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau survey and Department of Homeland Security, reflect an increase in people crossing the border illegally to exercise rights to seek asylum and Biden-era policies to grant temporary legal status. Those policies included a border appointment system called CBP One and permits for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Trump has ended those policies and also sought to reverse Biden's expansion of Temporary Protected Status for people already in the United States whose countries are deemed unsafe to return to. Mexicans were the largest nationality among people in the country illegally, a number that grew slightly to 4.3 million in 2023. The increase came almost entirely from other countries, totaling 9.7 million, up from 6.4 million two years earlier. States with the largest numbers of people in the country illegally were, in order, California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois, though Texas sharply narrowed its gap with California. Even with the increases in recent years, six states had smaller numbers in 2023 than in the previous peak in 2007: Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Oregon. Pew estimated that a record 9.7 million people without legal status were in the workforce, or about 5.6% of the U.S. labor force in 2023, with Nevada, Florida, New Jersey and Texas having the largest shares. The overall U.S. immigrant population, regardless of legal status, reached an all-time high of more than 53 million in January 2025, accounting for a record 15.8% of the U.S. population. The number has since dropped, which Pew said would be the first time it has shrunk since the 1960s. ___ Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat contributed. Follow Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Powell to give his last Jackson Hole speech under watchful gaze of Wall Street and the White House
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just three weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke to reporters after the central bank had kept its key interest rate unchanged for a fifth straight meeting and said the job market was 'solid.' His assessment was important because if the job market is healthy, there is less need for the Fed to cut its key interest rate, as President Donald Trump has demanded. Two days later, the Labor Department issued a report that cast doubt on that assessment, showing hiring was weak in July and much lower than previously estimated in May and June. So, there will be a lot of attention paid by Wall Street and the White House to Powell's high-profile speech Friday at the Fed's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. If the famously data-dependent Powell shifts gears and takes a gloomier view of the job market, that could open the door for a rate cut at the Fed's next meeting in September. Powell could also stick to the cautious approach he's maintained all year and reiterate that the central bank needs more time to evaluate the impact of Trump's sweeping tariffs on inflation. Most economists expect Powell to signal that a rate cut is likely this year, but won't necessarily commit to one next month. That could disappoint Wall Street, which has put high odds on a September cut. Powell's speech, his last address at Jackson Hole as chair before his term ends in May, will occur against a particularly fraught backdrop. About a week after the jobs numbers, the latest inflation report showed that price growth crept higher in July. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.1% from a year ago, above the Fed's 2% target. Stubbornly elevated inflation pushes the Fed in the opposite direction that weak hiring does: It suggests the central bank's short-term rate should stay at its current 4.3%, rather than be cut. That would mean other borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans, would stay elevated. 'So the plot has thickened,' said David Wilcox, a former top Fed economist and now director of economic research at Bloomberg Economics and also a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute. 'The dilemma that the Fed is in has become, if anything, more intense.' Powell is also navigating an unprecedented level of public criticism by Trump, as well as efforts by the president to take greater control of the Fed, which has long been independent from day-to-day politics. Most observers credit Powell for his nimble handling of the pressures. An iconic moment in his tenure was Trump's visit to tour the Fed's renovation of its office buildings last month. Trump had charged that Powell mismanaged the project, which had ballooned in cost to $2.5 billion, from an earlier estimate of $1.9 billion. With both the president and Fed chair in white hard hats on the building site, in front of cameras, Trump claimed the cost had mushroomed even further to $3.1 trillion. Powell shook his head, so Trump handed him a piece of paper purporting to back up his claim. Powell calmly dismissed the figure, noting that the $3.1 billion included the cost of renovating a third building five years earlier. 'That was just such a classic Powell,' said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG. 'He just doesn't get fazed. He's got a humility that oftentimes I think is lacking among my colleagues in economics." Powell appeared to at least temporarily assuage Trump during the tour, after which the president backed off his threats to fire the Fed chair over the project. The attacks from Trump are the latest challenges for Powell in an unusually tumultuous eight years as Fed chair. Not long after being appointed by Trump in 2018, Powell endured the president's criticisms as the Fed slowly raised its key rate from the low levels where it had remained for years after the 2008-2009 Great Recession. Powell then found himself grappling with the pandemic, and after that the worst inflation spike in four decades that occurred as government stimulus checks fueled spending while crippled supply chains left fewer goods available. Powell then oversaw a rapid series of rate hikes that were widely predicted to cause a recession, but the economy continued plugging ahead. In his latest attempt to pressure the Fed, on Wednesday Trump called on Fed governor Lisa Cook to step down, after an administration official, Bill Pulte, accused her of mortgage fraud. Pulte is head of the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Cook said in a statement that she wouldn't be 'bullied' into resigning and added that she was preparing to answer the charges. For Powell, there's a difficult decision to make on interest rates. The Fed's 'dual mandate' calls for it to keep prices stable while seeking maximum employment. But while the weak jobs data suggest the need for a cut, many Fed officials fear inflation will get worse in the coming months. 'There is still a fair amount that's still outstanding,' Raphael Bostic, president of the Fed's Atlanta branch, said in an interview, referring to tariff-led price hikes. 'One feedback we've gotten both in our surveys and from direct conversations (with businesses) suggests that many still are looking to see the price that they charge their customers increase from where we are today.' Other economists, however, point to the sharp slowdown in housing as a sign of a weak economy. Sales of existing homes fell in June to their lowest level in nine months amid elevated mortgage rates. Consumer spending has also been modest this year, and growth was just 1.2% at an annual rate in the first half of 2025. 'There's not a lot to like about the economy right now outside of AI," said Neil Dutta, an economist at Renaissance Macro. 'The weakness in the economy isn't about tariffs,' but instead the Fed's high rates, he added.
Cision Canada
an hour ago
- Cision Canada
Kia Canada Partners with Variablegrid to Improve Home EV Charging Solutions Français
TORONTO, Aug. 21, 2025 /CNW/ - Kia Canada today announced an innovative partnership with Variablegrid Adaptive Power Inc., a Canadian energy technology leader specializing in electric vehicle (EV) energy management. As the first automotive brand in Canada to partner with Variablegrid, Kia continues to lead EV accessibility by introducing groundbreaking solutions and advanced technology tailored to the Canadian market. Variablegrid eliminates the cost and complexity of installing a home charger in older homes that may not have enough electrical power to spare for fast, Level-2 EV charging. Using patented adaptive load management technology powered by artificial intelligence, Variablegrid's Energy Management System (EMS) monitors real-time energy usage and automatically adjusts power to the EV charger based on available capacity. This allows homeowners an EV charger without requiring costly electrical upgrades to their electrical panel that many older homes encounter - making EV ownership simpler, more affordable and more accessible. "Kia Canada is committed to making electric vehicles accessible and affordable for all Canadians," says David Sherrard, Director of Strategic Planning at Kia Canada. "Our partnership with Variablegrid directly supports this mission by removing common cost and infrastructure barriers associated with home charging, especially in older homes that cannot support traditional EV chargers." Variablegrid's technology uniquely adapts charging speeds to a home's available electrical capacity, eliminating the need for electrical panel upgrades that can range from $5,000 to over $10,000. Customers purchasing Kia EVs can include the cost of the Variablegrid EMS and home charger in their vehicle financing, further streamlining the EV ownership experience. "One of the biggest reasons people hesitate to buy an EV is uncertainty about home charging," says Dan Lafferty, CEO and co-founder of Variablegrid. "We've bundled everything Kia EV buyers need; smart charging, intelligent power management and a seamless solution designed to simplify the transition to EV ownership. Our partnership with Kia streamlines the home charging sale process and delivers a great ownership experience from the start." This partnership reinforces Kia's expanding EV portfolio, highlighted by the upcoming introduction of the highly anticipated EV5 SUV—exclusive to Canada in North America—and the EV4 compact sedan. These new vehicles further demonstrate Kia's ongoing commitment to providing accessible electric mobility solutions for Canadian consumers. The Variablegrid EMS system and home chargers are now available for purchase at all Kia dealerships across Canada and can be added to the build and price of a vehicle on About Kia Canada Kia Canada Inc., founded in 1999, is a subsidiary of Kia Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. The company employs over 190 people at its headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario, as well as in locations across Canada and at its regional office in Montréal, Québec. Kia offers award winning products that are dynamic, stylish and innovative and services that are meaningful and convenient through a network of nearly 200 dealers across the country. The company's brand slogan – 'Movement that inspires' reflects Kia's desire to create the space for you to get inspired and more time to bring your ideas to life. To learn more, visit or Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. About Variablegrid Adaptive Power Inc. Variablegrid Adaptive Power Inc. is a Canadian energy technology company specializing in Energy Management Systems (EMS). Their patented adaptive power platform uses real-time monitoring and dynamic load management to enable safe, scalable, and cost-effective EV charging without requiring electrical panel upgrades. By removing one of the biggest infrastructure barriers to EV adoption, Variablegrid helps automakers, and their dealer networks deliver a seamless home charging experience. Recognized as a leader in energy innovation, Variablegrid was awarded the 2024 Best Electrical Solution by Energy Manager Canada and is actively working with industry, utility, and government partners to support the transition to electric mobility.
