Morning Brief: The Woes Of Working In Fast Food, Buying A Funeral Home & More

Happy Hump Day — Andrew from Narcity here. ☕

Off The Top: Elon Musk's quest to turn Twitter on its head continues, and like any savvy businessman, Musk turned to one tried and true idiom about making moolah: immediately start publicly haggling with best-selling horror author Stephen King.

HEY YOU! You should sign up for the email version of the Canada Morning Brief right here. It's better than this version. Trust me.

In Case You Missed It

1. Canada Targets Adding Over 1 Million New Permanent Residents By 2025

The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced the country's master plan for immigration for 2023-25 on Tuesday, with the annual intake of permanent residents projected to rise dramatically over the next three years. Canada is set to welcome 465K in 2023, 485K in 2024, and 500K in 2025 — up from the current 2022 target of 431K, Janice Rodrigues reports. The goal here is to address labour deficits in a number of key sectors — think healthcare, manufacturing and STEM trades.

• In His Words: "We can't afford to keep bringing doctors here who aren't able to work as doctors. We can't afford to bring skilled tradespeople here who aren’t working as skilled tradespeople," said Minister Sean Fraser.
• What Else: Beyond the focus on labour, the immigration plan will also seek to ensure that at least 4.4% of the non-Quebec permanent residents coming to the country speak French.
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

2. Financial Relief Is Here For Low-Income Canadians With Student Loans

Recent post-secondary school graduates and apprentices are getting some relief on their loans thanks to changes to the Student Financial Assistance Program's Repayment Assistance Plan. Effective as of November 1, the annual income threshold that triggers loan repayment has been raised from $25,000 to $40,000, giving Canadians a little more time to find their financial footing before monthly charges commence. Furthermore, the threshold will now be tied to Canada's rate of inflation in future years — one of several benefits for borrowers, Helena Hanson reports.

• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

3. POV: The Actual Pros & Cons Of Working In Fast Food From A Burger King Vet

Working in a fast food service job isn't for the faint of heart. Sure, there are a couple of pros — like steep discounts on food — but there are obviously a few drawbacks as well. But don't take my word for it. Our Katherine Caspersz's first job was actually at Burger King so she's seen it all — the wonky hours, the up-tempo, always-on-your-feet nature of the job, the going home after a long day and being unable to get the smell of fries off your clothes. Here's a whopper of an inside scoop of life in fast food.

• My Take: Move over, Charles; no one makes a better case for abolishing monarchies than the ultra-creepy Burger King mascot.
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

What Else You Need To Know Today

💵 DOLLAR DAYS
With inflation chipping away at paycheques, Canadians are turning more and more to budget retailers to lower their costs. However, tempting as it may be, Patrick John Gilson says there are still 10 things he absolutely refuses to buy from Dollarama.

🏠 SURREAL ESTATE
It's basically a scene from The Addams Family. A Toronto family left the city to buy a 20-room mansion in Dresden, Ontario for $570K. The catch? It used to be a funeral home. Now, the Blumberg family is the star of the aptly named TV series, We Bought A Funeral Home. Once again, here's Patrick John Gilson with the story.

🌮 UBER DEF'EATS
If you're a Quebecer who ordered delivery through Ubers Eats between July 4, 2017 and April 20, 2021, you might be eligible to join a recently approved class-action lawsuit against the company — and potentially collect a $100 payout, Charlotte Hoareau writes. Here's why the delivery titan could be facing some unexpected charges of their own for once.

📌 JOB BOARD
If you haven't been put off by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's insistence on returning the province to its wild west roots, Charlie Hart has found six job listings with the City of Calgary that each pays upward of $50-plus per hour to start. Not bad!

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
Naomi Ackie, star of a forthcoming Whitney Houston biopic, turns 30 today. Is it getting hot in here or is pop rapper Nelly now 48? David Schwimmer, one of five principal Friends actors who hasn't torpedoed a book launch with weird Keanu Reeves takes in recent weeks, is 56. Capitalization-adverse Canadian music legend k.d. lang is 61. The late, wonderful Burt Lancaster was born on this day in 1913.

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — the newsletter written by someone who also never got a chance to bat in the majors.

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!