In the week ending June 6 , Canada unveiled a $2.3 billion artificial‑intelligence strategy, the United States rolled out forced‑labour tariffs affecting 60+ trading partners, and high‑profile IPOs such as SpaceX and Apotex captured investor attention. The policy moves and market buzz come amid a heated debate over whether Canada is already in a recession.

Canada’s $2.3 B AI Strategy Targets Talent Retention and Compute Costs

The federal government announced a three‑part package that includes a $500 million growth fund for top AI firms, another $500 million for regional agencies to help companies adopt AI tools, and a $700 million subsidy for the compute power needed to train large models.. According to the source, the initiative is billed as a way to keep AI talent at home and spur home‑grown innovation.

Critics, however, say the plan skirts crucial issues such as intellectual‑property reform, workforce protection and safeguards against AI‑related harms. Labour leaders warned that the strategy does not adequately address the risk of job displacement as automation spreads across traditional sectors.

U.S. Forced‑Labour Tariffs Hit Canada with a Base 10% Duty

The United States Trade Representative introduced duties ranging from 10 percent to 12.5 percent on imports from more than 60 partners suspected of forced‑labour practices, with Canada placed in the 10 percent bracket.. The source notes a carve‑out for goods that comply with the United States‑Mexico‑Canada Agreement, sparing many Canadian exports.

The move revives a tariff wall the Supreme Court struck down earlier in the year and has reignited debate in Ottawa about potential impacts on bilateral trade flows and domestic price pressures.

SpaceX IPO Could Net Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan an $11 B Paper Gain

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing a Nasdaq debut that could value the company at roughly $1.75 trillion, according to the source. If the offering proceeds as expected, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s stake—originally bought in a 2019 financing round—could translate into a paper gain of up to $11 billion,potentially becoming its most lucrative single investment.

At the same time, Canadian drugmaker Apotex and AI startup Anthropic are lining up listings, prompting the Toronto Stock Exchange to brace for its largest IPO in five years, with a projected valuation of about $5 billion.

Fraud Losses Surge to $704 M as Scammers Exploit AI Tools

The Canadian Anti‑Fraud Centre recorded more than $704 million in losses last year, up from $645 million the previous year, highlighting a growing wealth transfer to organized crime networks. A Toronto couple, Bob and Sarah McArthur, lost nearly $14 000 after a sophisticated banking scam that leveraged AI‑enabled phishing tools, the source reports.

Scammers are tailoring tactics by demographic: baby boomers often receive impersonations of family members or bank staff, while millennials are targeted with fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes.

Economists Split on Whether Canada Is Already in a Recession

Real GDP per‑capita rose modestly by 0.2 percent in the first quarter, suggesting output per person is still expanding despite sluggish headline growth, the source notes. Some analysts argue this modest gain masks broader concerns over inflation, global trade tensions and rapid technological change.

Others contend that without stronger headline GDP growth, Canada risks slipping into a technical recession, underscoring the complexity of assessing economic health in a period of rapid change.