Maclean's June 2025

I was planning a trip to Cape Cod this summer. A friend is celebrating her 50th birthday in August and hosting a big party there. I’ve never been to Cape Cod and was looking forward to exploring its quaint villages and seafood shacks. I pictured myself on the beach, wearing a big hat and sipping wine. But just as I was about to book my flight and Airbnb rental, I was inundated with U.S.-Canada-border horror stories. A Vancouver-based Canadian citizen was sent to an ICE detention centre and wrote a chilling story about it for the Guardian. The Globe & Mail published a piece about Iranian-born Canadians who had been denied entry because U.S. border guards considered them national-security threats. And Le Monde reported that a French scientist was turned away…

@MediaplanetCA Please recycle A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET In Oakville, Ontario sits a plain brick building. Based on the ordinary outside, a casual observer wouldn’t know the extraordinary things happening inside. The building is the home to the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides (LFCDG), where Dog-Guides-to-be undergo specialized training, and where the people whose lives will be changed by their new assistance dog have a chance to train and bond with them. Providing Confidence and Independence The stories of how the LFCDG has helped people across the country are touching and inspiring. Caroline found a level of safety and independence, thanks to the support of her Hearing Dog Guide. Caroline can sleep soundly each night knowing that if the fire alarm ever went off, Ann would wake her…

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE NATION’S NEWSMAKERS FEBRUARY MARKED THE LAUNCH of Build Canada, a mysterious website that loftily promised plans for a “bolder, richer, freer country.” Soon, more details emerged: it was a non-partisan forum for entrepreneurs of all stripes to publish their visionary, occasionally radical policy ideas for bettering Canada. (Examples included making its public service leaner, its health records more accessible and its markets more friendly to drone-makers.) Once word broke that several Shopify execs—some quite vocally right-leaning—were possibly involved on the back end, the tech panic began: was Build Canada just DOGE 2.0? “Absolutely not,” insists Daniel Debow, Shopify’s former VP of partnerships and corporate development and Build Canada’s unofficial head honcho. Even if Canadians don’t know Debow’s name, they’ve interacted with a company he either co-founded or…

@MediaplanetCA Please recycle Time for Canada to Step Up for Caregivers Liv Mendelsohn, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence Before most of us have sipped our first cup of coffee, millions of Canadians are already deep into their second shift — helping aging parents dress, feeding partners recovering from surgery, or coaxing children with complex needs through the morning routine. They manage prescriptions, book appointments, and battle with insurance companies — often while holding down full-time jobs. Caregiving touches every Canadian family. Today, one in four Canadians is a caregiver. Half of us will be at some point in our lives. Despite being the quiet backbone of our health and social systems, caregivers are overlooked, overworked, and under-supported. Paid care providers too, are stretched thin — facing low wages,…

RADICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE COUNTRY’S PROBLEMS LIKE MOST CANADIANS, I’ve travelled to the United States a lot in my lifetime. As part of my job as a tourism researcher at Thompson Rivers University, I attend a large American conference for geographers every year. Once it’s done, I usually take a road trip with my colleagues to explore the area around the host city. The most epic adventure came after the Tampa conference, when we drove partway through the South and ended in Denver at a Wyclef Jean concert—on 4/20, of all days. So far, I’ve visited 35 states, and I’d eventually love to hit all 50. But I decided that this year’s event in Detroit would be my last for the time being. Avoiding trips to the U.S. in favour…

CANADA’S COOLEST NEW STRUCTURES THERE ARE A FEW things you can always count on during a visit to Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market: a peameal bacon sandwich from Carousel Bakery, a sea of vintage tchotchkes at the Sunday antique market and people toting freshly caught fish. On the north side of Front Street, the mega-popular farmers’ market—the city’s largest—has been around since 1803. It’s changed locations a few times: to an enclosure built in 1820; a brick building that doubled as city hall in 1831; a new, south-facing structure after the 1849 Cathedral Fire; and a single-storey model erected in the late ’60s. By 2008, the city decided the community fixture needed a larger, mixed-use home. In the summer of 2010, the city awarded the project to Toronto-based Adamson Associates Architects…