Canada Now

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Who gets to decide how artificial intelligence shapes our jobs, creativity, communities, and future — and what role should Canadians play in those decisions? AI is advancing quickly. But the future isn't inevitable, and the decisions about how we develop, adopt, regulate, and sometimes refuse this technology shouldn't belong to just a handful of companies or governments. In this episode of Canada Now, Ashley Smith sits down with Kris Krüg, a Vancouver-based creati...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 What does it really take to build and scale a Canadian business — especially when you're competing with established brands, navigating retail distribution, and growing without a big investment behind you? For more than a decade, Kristin Zerbin and Liam Moore have been building Hoochy ’Booch, a Vancouver-based kombucha company that started with home brewing, farmers' markets, and a strong connection to its community. In this episode of Canada Now, Ashley Smith sits...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Canada needs more housing. So why is it so difficult to get new homes built — even when the need is clear? In this episode of Canada Now, Ashley Smith sits down with Cynthia Jagger, Executive Vice President of Capital Markets with CBRE’s National Investment Team in Vancouver. Cynthia has spent more than two decades working in commercial real estate, with particular expertise in multifamily housing and development sites. She also serves on the executive committee o...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 What makes a technology ecosystem stronger over time? It isn’t one company, one funding announcement, or one breakthrough. Ecosystems compound as people gain experience, talent moves between companies, founders reinvest their capital and knowledge, and organizations take chances on the builders around them. Dennis Pilarinos has experienced that process from almost every angle. After studying computer science and business at Simon Fraser University, Dennis held sen...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Canada Now returns for SEASON 2 with a special episode marking Prostate Cancer Awareness Month — and a conversation that could genuinely change someone’s life. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in Canada (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers). Yet silence, discomfort, and the tendency to put off difficult health conversations can prevent men from taking proactive steps. In this episode, host Ashley Smith — an Impact Ambassador for Pros...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 What do AI, housing, and startup ecosystems reveal about Canada’s future economy? After 16 conversations across business, technology, real estate innovation, governance, media, and entrepreneurship, a deeper pattern began to emerge. Not just how Canadian founders build — but what actually allows innovation to grow. In this Season 1 reflection, host Ashley Smith steps back to connect the threads that surfaced again and again throughout the first season of Canada No...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 After 16 conversations across housing, governance, technology, business, entrepreneurship, and media, a pattern began to emerge. Not just innovation. Not just disruption. But a tone. In this solo Season 1 reflection, host Ashley Smith steps back to examine what Canadian leaders — across real estate, board governance, technology, and startups — are revealing in this moment of economic pressure, technological acceleration, and global uncertainty. From institutional ...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 In this episode of Canada Now, I’m joined by William Johnson — Vice President of Strategy & Operations at Overstory Media Group and founder of Vancouver Tech Journal — for a wide-ranging conversation on what’s really shifting in Canada’s innovation ecosystem in 2026. We unpack the current pragmatic reset in venture and startups, why Vancouver’s tech community feels both exciting and precarious, and why the next era of innovation may be defined less by hype… an...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 In this episode of Canada Now, I’m joined by Matias Marquez, founder and CEO of ethos — a modern loyalty and membership platform helping brands move beyond transactional points and discounts toward something far more powerful: community, participation, and real customer connection. Built for Shopify merchants and modern e-commerce brands, ethos is part of a new wave of tools helping online retailers turn customers into engaged communities — not just repeat buyers....

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 We’re living through a moment of real uncertainty — geopolitically, economically, and technologically. The old playbooks are breaking down. The rules are shifting. And leaders are being asked to make high-stakes decisions without a clear map. In this episode, I sit down with veteran executive and board leader Darlene Hyde to explore how governance, leadership, and decision-making must evolve in times of disruption. Drawing on decades of experience across major ins...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Podcasting has changed — but it hasn’t lost its power. In this episode of Canada Now, I’m joined by Brayden Dyczkowski, founder of Podfather Creative and the producer behind the studio where this show is recorded, for a behind-the-scenes conversation about the podcast medium itself. We explore how businesses are actually using podcasts in 2026 — what’s working, what’s changed, and why podcasting continues to deliver real ROI when done with intention. From audio vs...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 In this episode of Canada Now, host Ashley Smith sits down with Arman Mottaghi, founder and CEO of Properate, to explore what it really takes to build companies that last — in climate tech and beyond. Arman shares how Properate grew into one of Canada’s leading home energy assessment platforms by focusing on long-term value, real revenue, and system-level thinking — rather than chasing Silicon Valley hype cycles. The conversation spans: * Why homes are one of th...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 AI is everywhere — but leadership hasn’t always caught up. In this episode of Canada Now, host Ashley Smith is joined by Karen Olsson, tech entrepreneur, fractional CEO, and principal at Atomic47, for a grounded conversation about what the AI moment actually demands of leaders — beyond hype, tools, and experimentation. Karen brings a rare, on-the-ground perspective from working with organizations across highly regulated and operationally complex sectors, including...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 In a world flooded with AI-generated content, endless platforms, and “perfect” branding, what actually builds trust? In this episode of Canada Now, Ashley is joined by Brady Dahmer — brand strategist, author of Blind Spots, and founder of Tropoly — for a wide-ranging conversation about brand, trust, community, and why human connection matters more than ever. Brady has spent over 25 years working at the intersection of design, storytelling, and strategy, supporting...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 How does a Canadian tech company go public before it has a finished product — and then scale to more than 160 countries? In this episode, Tom Rossiter, Co-Founder and CEO of RESAAS, shares the remarkable story behind building a global technology platform from Vancouver and navigating the uniquely Canadian path to going public pre-product. Ashley and Tom dive into: - The unconventional route RESAAS took to become a public company before revenue - Why this was pos...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Cyber attacks aren’t just rising — they’re transforming. And most Canadian companies aren’t even close to ready. In this eye-opening conversation, cybersecurity expert Dominic Vogel breaks down the new reality facing Canadian organizations as we head into 2026. From AI-powered attacks to skyrocketing ransomware incidents to the shocking fragility of our digital systems, Dominic explains why cyber risk is no longer a technical issue — it’s a leadership issue. We co...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 The future of work is changing fast — and few people have a better vantage point on global leadership, talent, and purpose than Jay Rosenzweig. Jay Rosenzweig is a successful investor and internationally renowned social impact entrepreneur, humanitarian, and CEO of Rosenzweig & Company. Across North America and beyond, he advises global corporations, high-growth founders, and purpose-driven organizations on building world-class leadership teams. He also chairs...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Factory-built homes are back in the spotlight in Canada — but are today’s modular homes actually good enough to help fix the housing crisis and be places people truly want to live? In this episode of Canada Now, Ashley sits down with Rohan Kulkarni (Co-Founder & CEO, Rohe Homes) and Salik Z. Khan (Co-Founder & Chief Experience Officer) to unpack how factory-built, modular homes can speed up construction, cut costs, and still deliver beautiful, high-quality...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 What if a major housing unlock is hiding in plain sight? This week, Ashley sits down with Laura Fortey — co-founder & COO of Reitium — to unpack how churches, hospitals, and other nonprofits can raise capital (donations, debt, or equity) to build affordable housing while keeping ownership of their land. No bulldozers-for-condos script. Instead: preserve the community anchor, add the homes, and make the math work with modern crowdfunding infrastructure. They al...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 When disruption hits your industry, will you adapt — or get left behind? Jeff King, CEO of Greater Vancouver REALTORS® and former COO of SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), joins Canada Now to unpack how disruption unfolds — and what every Canadian leader can learn from the industries facing it head-on. From the collapse of CD retailers to the digital transformation of real estate, Jeff shares how embracing change, recognizing...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Can social media feel human again? 🇨🇦 After two decades of algorithms, outrage, and endless scroll, Jess Glowacki is rebuilding social — the Canadian way. As the founder of EH!, a proudly Canadian social network that puts community, privacy, and connection first, Jess is flipping the script on how we connect online. No algorithms. No bots. Just real people, local discovery, and a mission-driven model built around respect and belonging. In this conversation, we un...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Real estate is having its travel-agent moment — but the higher calling is stewardship. Serial Entrepreneur, investor, and Sutton Group CEO, Ross McCredie explains how verified identity and accurate data can protect families from financial abuse and turn brokerages into true homeowner wealth platforms. In this episode: The “travel agent → advisor” shift and what it means for REALTORS®From one-off deals to long-term asset/portfolio managementVerified IDs, digitized ...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 What does a smarter, more resilient housing system look like in Canada? BCREA CEO Trevor Koot joins Ashley to zoom out: climate shocks, immigration, Indigenous title and UNDRIP, red tape vs. development, and why data — not vibes — should steer policy. We dig into the evolving role of REALTORS as small-business owners in an AI era, how 30 years of MLS history could inform better decisions, and why the (still) paper-heavy real estate transaction stack is overdue for...

Send a text to Canada Now! 💬 Welcome to Canada Now where we highlight the voices, ideas, and bold moves shaping Canada's next chapter through an unapologetically Canadian lens. 🇨🇦 Canada’s story is still being written — and it’s not happening in boardrooms or press releases. It’s unfolding in conversations between builders, thinkers, and change makers across the country. This is a series of sharp, honest, future-facing conversations with the people driving progress across business, inno...