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Summary

8 Things You Need To Know For October 7

Including Canada's most dangerous city, the onslaught of winter weather & a cheap slice of cottage-country paradise.

​People on a snow-covered lake in front of mountains in Alberta. Right: A home in Minden, Ontario.

People on a snow-covered lake in front of mountains in Alberta. Right: A home in Minden, Ontario.

Features Editor

Good morning and TGIF — Andrew from Narcity here. ☕

Off The Top: The world's oldest working supermodel, 91-year-old Carmen Dell'Orefice, stripped down for a photoshoot for the cover of New You Magazine, proving that there's no age limit for upholding traditional western beauty standards.

In Case You Missed It

1. By One Measure, This B.C. City Is The Most Dangerous In Canada

According to the "Crime Index" developed by global statistics database Numbeo, seven of the world's 100 most dangerous cities can be found right here in Canada. Leading Canada (somehow?) is Surrey, B.C., which scored 63 out of 100 on the Crime Index thanks in part to Numbeo users' perceptions of very high levels of drug usage and high levels of car break-ins. Helena Hanson breaks down the actual crime data to see how closely the report matches reality.

  • Where Else? From No. 2 through 7, here are the other Canadian locales on the list: Lethbridge, Alberta; Kelowna, B.C.; Red Deer, Alberta; Sudbury, Ontario; Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  • Dig Deeper: The top of the global list features a lot of entries from South Africa and Brazil, and Caracas, Venezuela, took the No. 1 spot overall. The top American entry? Baltimore, Maryland, at No. 14.
  • My Take: Respectfully, if you think any of those seven blue-collar Canadian towns is more dangerous than the hundreds of cities adjacent to active conflict zones in places like Ukraine, Yemen and Ethiopia, give your head a shake.

2. Winter Is Coming: Some Provinces Will See Flurries Over Thanksgiving Weekend

Don't shoot the messenger but it appears that much of Canada is about to be blasted with a cold shot of arctic air. According to the Weather Network, temperatures in northern Ontario, Quebec and Labrador will drop low enough over Thanksgiving weekend to turn rain into wet flurries. Then, western Canada should see the mercury fall early next week as cooler temperatures roll in, Lisa Belmonte writes. Here's what you need to know about our impending doom the arrival of winter.

3. How Much You Need To Make To Afford A Home In A Major Canadian City

Despite the downward pressure that rising interest rates have had on Canada's housing markets, the financial strain of buying a home remains brutal. A new report from the National Bank of Canada shows that you'll still need to earn a pretty hefty salary — well over six figures — to buy real estate in a major city. For more on how Canada's cities stack up in terms of home prices, here's Tristan Wheeler.

  • The High End: To buy the average house in Toronto — $1.3M, on average — you'll need to pull in about $246K a year. Vancouver's even higher; you'll need to make about $263K to afford the average $1.4M home.
  • The Low End: Quebec City was actually the most affordable city featured in the study. To afford the average home price of $357K, you only need to make about $80K a year. (Pack a sweater.)

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.


What Else You Need To Know Today

🌈 PARADE SHADE
Why exactly was Fierté Montreal, the city's annual Pride parade, cancelled just hours before the 2022 march was set to begin this August? After reviewing internal documents, the man tasked with reviewing the incident has concluded that the abrupt cancellation was a misunderstanding exacerbated by "a series of chaotic exchanges." Uh, OK. MTL Blog's Charlotte Hoareau has more.

🏠 SURREAL ESTATE
Even with Toronto's real estate market in flux, $500K is more likely to get you a shoebox condo than a full-fledged home in the city. If you don't mind moving north, however, that's more than enough to buy this quaint two-bedroom converted schoolhouse in cottage country, currently listed at just $419K.

🚓 COP-TROVERSY
The Edmonton Police have apologized for their use of a controversial technology that purports to create a digital police sketch based off a suspect's DNA. As Charlie Hart reports, the scientific community has serious reservations about the accuracy of the tech while others have pointed to the potential for racial profiling. Clearly, there's a fair amount to unpack here.

📌 JOB BOARD
Lululemon, the company that made it fashionable to laze around your house in gym shorts, is scouting for new talent to fill a bunch of remote roles based out of British Columbia. Ashley Harris scoured the job boards for seven great gigs with the athletic-wear giant and details exactly who should apply.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
Superstar L.A. Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts turns 30 years old today. Canadian ex-X-Men actor Shawn Ashmore is 43. Melancholy Radiohead maestro Thom Yorke turns 54. Toni Braxton is 55. At 63, is Simon Cowell still the meanest man on television? Fire up "Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major"; Yo-Yo Ma turns 67 today. Vladimir Putin has been festering on this planet for 70 years.

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — the newsletter that would be banned by the Kremlin if they knew it existed.

Is the world allowed to have more than one famous cellist at any given time? Let me know your thoughts at andrew.potter@narcity.com or hit me up on Twitter if you'd prefer at @andrewjoepotter.

Have a great weekend. Renée has you covered on Monday and I'll be back on Tuesday!

Explore this list   👀

    • Features Editor

      Andrew Joe Potter (he/him) was a Toronto-based Features Editor for Narcity Media. He joined Narcity Media after seven years at theScore, where he primarily covered the world of basketball. He also helped launch the weekend editions of the Toronto Star's First Up newsletter.

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