It's "Friday Jr." — Andrew from Narcity here. ☕
Off The Top: A huge Jurassic World experience is coming to Mississauga, Ontario, this April and the exhibition is billed as feeling like actually being in the famous dino blockbusters. This is exciting news — especially if you've literally never seen what happens in any of those movies about family entertainment gone awry.
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In Case You Missed It
What Are The Reasons To Not Move To Vancouver?
A welcome sign for the province of British Columbia. Right: U-Haul truck.
Rlesyk | Dreamstime, Andreistanescu | Dreamstime
Apparently, there's a big feud between the residents of Vancouver and Toronto. Who knew! Our Western Canada Editor Morgan Leet recently surveyed our Toronto-based colleagues on whether they would ever consider packing up and moving out to B.C.'s largest city. The result: Nine reasons why the Torontonians won't even consider moving west.
- Like What? The environment was a recurring theme. Some cited the general raininess compared to Toronto. Others said the proximity to nature wasn't a major selling point since they're not particularly outdoorsy anyway.
- What Else? Another refrain: There's just not as much going on. Fewer restaurants and a less robust nightlife — but with a cost of living on par with the far busier Toronto.
- My Take: For the record, I abstained from the survey. I love Toronto! I was born and raised here! But I would move to Vancouver in a heartbeat. The food is great, the mountain vistas are spectacular and there's plenty of nightlife.
- READ THE FULL STORY HERE
When's The Deadline To Apply For The Canada Housing Benefit?
A row of mid-rise condos in Canada.
Volodymyr Kyrylyuk | Dreamstime
The clock is ticking on applying for the Canada Housing Benefit, a one-time government top-up. The deadline to apply for the $500 payment is March 31, 2023. However, of the 1.8 million Canadian renters believed to be eligible for the benefit, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates that more than a million people are still eligible. Helena Hanson breaks down who is eligible for the CHB — and perhaps even more importantly, how to actually apply.
What Is The Average Salary In The U.S. For 2023?
A group of people working on laptops. Right: A person holding American money.
Annie Spratt | Unsplash, Alexander Mils | Unsplash
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for a full-time job in the States for this year is $53,490 USD. That translates to about $72,365 in Canadian dollars, accounting for the current exchange rate.
Of course, as Brittany Cristiano points out, not all careers are made equally in the wage department. While the national average for accountants ($56.9K), radiology technicians ($53.4K) and high school teachers ($51.6K) all fell close to the overall average, roles like pharmacists ($112.8K) and software engineers ($82.9K) earned considerably more.
- Flashback: You may recall our story from earlier this month on the average Canadian salary for 2023: $59,059. Again, adjusting for the exchange rate, it looks like your earning power is much stronger south of the border right now.
- READ THE FULL STORY HERE
What Else You Need To Know Today
🍿 THE INCREDIBLE BULK
As the name suggests, the Bulk Barn is a pretty good place to find some fairly obvious goods like baking ingredients and spices. However, there are also a few specialty items that the uninitiated may have never considered — like mac and cheese sauce mix, popcorn seasoning and atypical soap scents. Janice Rodrigues took a trip to her local store to find nine overlooked bulk items.
📺 NOSTALGIA TV
What was wrong with the adults working in Canadian children's programming 25 or so years ago? Who hurt them? And why did they want to scare the crap out of the Millennials? Katherine Caspersz jumped in her time machine to revisit seven Canadian TV shows that were shockingly scary for their time — fright fests like Freaky Stories and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
🏠 SURREAL ESTATE
If you're looking to get away from city life — and take on a bit of a fixer-upper project — take a look at this 927-square foot cabin Sierra Riley spotted in Lillooet, B.C., about three-and-a-half hours away from Vancouver. For a shade under $600,000, the lakeside property sits on 113 acres and unobstructed lake views. Come take the tour with us.
📌 JOB BOARD
PepsiCo is looking to fill more than 300 seasonal jobs across Ontario this summer, including warehouse workers, general production workers and AZ drivers. Students are eligible to apply and can make up to $15K for a full summer's work, Madeline Forsyth writes. Check out how to get involved.
🎂 BIRTHDAYS
It's a big day for Canadian hoopers; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (Kitchener, ON) turns 26 while Golden State Warriors wing Andrew Wiggins (Vaughan, ON) turns 28 years old. A Quiet Place's Emily Blunt and Parks and Recreation's Aziz Ansari (who are not twins) both hit the big 4-0. Boardwalk Empire's Kelly Macdonald is 47. Bobby Bonilla, who the New York Mets are famously paying millions annually through 2035 as part of a botched deferred payment plan, turns 60. Former astronaut Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space, is 74. Peter Fonda, whose screenplay for Easy Rider earned him an Oscar nomination, would've been 83 today.
Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — the newsletter that should never be read after bedtime without parental supervision.
Have a question or comment about today's edition? Let me know at andrew.potter@narcity.com or hit me up on Twitter if you'd prefer at @andrewjoepotter.
Have a great day and I will see you back here tomorrow to round out the week!