TORONTO – High interest rates have had a negative impact on low-income Canadian families more than on wealthy ones, as a new report from Statistics Canada highlights. A rather obvious thing, given that low-income families have less ability to “defend themselves” from the increase in the cost of living: but the Statistics Canada report, beyond the obvious conclusion, analyzed savings and wealth in the third quarter of 2023 and what emerges is that the low-income group was also penalized by a laughable increase – of 3% – in average salaries, which is was abundantly absorbed by a 43% drop in net income from possible investments and, above all, by higher rates for consumer credit. The richest, however, enjoyed a greater increase in average wages (almost 6%) and net investment income (almost 10%). This group therefore experienced the fastest pace of average disposable income and was the only group to increase net investment income. (more…)
TORONTO – Election campaign has actually already begun and both the Liberals and the Conservatives are working hard to win the crucial vote of the Italian community. But the participation of the two parties in the respective events is visibly different, as can be understood from the photos we publish above (left, Conservatives meeting; right, Liberals meeting). (more…)
TORONTO – Canada will reduce the number of international student permits by 35 per cent as part of “a temporary two-year cap on foreign enrollments,” Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced this morning. The cap will reduce the number of approved study permits in 2024 to 364,000, while the 2025 limit will be re-evaluated at the end of this year. Students enrolling in master’s and research doctorates will be exempt from the cap. “These are the bright people we need to retain instead,” Miller said, adding that doing so will allow them to decisively confront the institutions and “bad actors” who have to pay exorbitant tuition fees to international students. (more…)
TORONTO – RCMP officers will be freer to smoke marijuana on their off hours, as long as they are “fit for duty” once they return to work. The turning point has come in recent days and represents a strong relaxation of the RCMP’s policy on the consumption of cannabis by its members. (more…)
TORONTO – In 2021, UNESCO officially recognized the remarkable artistic and cultural value of the magnificent fourteenth-century frescoes by Giotto, depicted in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padoa. These frescoes have been included in the World Heritage List. To celebrate this significant acknowledgment, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto (IIC) is proud to present the second stop of the exhibition “The Magic of Giotto”, February 8-29, at Istituto Italiano di Cultura | 496 Huron Street, Toronto.
