Canada Morning Brief: What You Need To Know For June 20

Good morning — Andrew from Narcity here!

I hope you had a good weekend — and a great spring. Tomorrow marks the first day of summer.

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5 Things You Need To Know Today

⏳ HOLIDAY
As you surely already knew, it's World Productivity Day! Why not take a page from the French and celebrate by seeing how long of a lunch break you can take before your boss notices how long you've been gone?

🏎️ FORMULA 1
Dutchman Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal yesterday. The 24-year-old now sits atop the overall 2022 standings with 175 points, a comfortable lead over second-place driver Sergio Perez (129 points).

🏒 HOCKEY
The Stanley Cup Final continues tonight with the Tampa Bay Lightning looking to get into the win column after dropping the first two games of the series to the Colorado Avalanche — including a dispiriting 7-0 shutout in Game 2. The puck drops at 8 p.m. ET.

🎥 RED CARPET
We're just a few days away from Friday's wide release of the new Elvis biopic. Narcity's Brooke Houghton caught up with hip-gyrating lead star Austin Butler at the Toronto premiere.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
A number of celebs are celebrating their birthdays today, including Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman (55), Monsters, Inc. voice star John Goodman (70) and McLovin himself, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (33).

In Case You Missed It

1. Inside The Feds' New 'Affordability Plan'

Minster of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced a number of new measures designed to address Canada's generationally high inflation rate. Among the initiatives are more benefits for low-income workers, expanded subsidization for dental and child care and even a one-time payment for certain Canadians "struggling with the cost of housing," Helena Hanson reports. Here's what else is in the $8.9-billion plan.

2. Drake Married 23 Women In His New Music Video

Toronto's very own Drake may come off as a serial dater, but the rapper finally tied the knot... precisely 23 times in the music video for his new song "Falling Back." Alex Arsenych breaks down the nearly 10-minute-long nuptial-themed short film, which notably includes a major cameo from Canadian NBA player Tristan Thompson, better known to some as Khloe Kardashian's ex.

3. The Interest-Free Loan To Greenify Your Home

For those Canadians who can afford to both purchase and renovate a home (pause for uncontrollable laughter), the Government of Canada is now accepting applications for interest-free loans of up to $40,000 for improving the residence's energy efficiency. Here's Helena again, this time breaking down how the new Canada Greener Homes Loan works.

4. Which Canadian Housing Markets Have Chilled The Most

If you've managed to stop howling after that last blurb, there actually is some encouraging news for would-be homebuyers. A new report on home prices in Ontario shows that six markets have seen the average price of a home drop by $100,000 month-over-month. The towns of Caledon, Oakville and Ajax saw the biggest drops, Patrick John Gilson writes, and although prices inside Toronto haven't fallen quite so fast, there are also signs of a cooling housing market in the 6ix as well.

5. Viral Curiosity Salt Bae's London Restaurant Was Skewered

It turns out that seasoning ridiculously expensive beef with dramatic flair can't make up for poor quality. Trip Advisor's latest "Best of the Best" list just dropped, and London's outpost of Nusr-Et, the global steakhouse chain founded by Nusret Gökçe (aka "Salt Bae"), ranked 17,333rd out of 17,508 restaurants. Sameen Chaudhry brings us some of the choicest cuts of criticism of the much-maligned meat palace.

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — the only newsletter ethically barred from stepping foot in a Salt Bae venture.

Have you ever had a grown man sprinkle salt down his forearm over your £850 gold-crusted steak? Let me know how that made you feel (as well as any additional comments) at andrew.potter@narcity.com.

Have a great day and see you back here tomorrow!