Eh Sayers

A Honeybee Trivia Showdown

Think your honeybee knowledge is as sweet as honey? Time to put it to the test! In this special episode of Eh Sayers, our colleagues face off in a trivia showdown all about Canada’s honeybee industry and the tiny pollinators that play a huge role in our food system. Discover how much honey was produced, how many beekeepers are caring for colonies across the country, the surprising value of honey sales, and why bees are essential far beyond the honey they produce. After listening, you’ll be the go-to expert on honeybees at your next backyard gathering!

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Orange Skies, Smoky Air and Billions at Risk of Going Up in Smoke

Orange skies, record breaking fire seasons, and smoke that travels thousands of kilometres have made wildfires impossible to ignore. But beyond the visible destruction lies another story, one measured not only in burned forests and evacuations, but also in economic impacts that ripple across communities and industries. How do wildfires affect Canada's economy? How are these impacts measured? And what do they tell us about the challenges Canadians may face in the years ahead? In this episode, we spoke with Mike Flannigan, a leading expert on wildfire science and climate change at Thompson Rivers University, and Mark Brown, Principal Researcher at Statistics Canada, to explore how wildfires are reshaping Canada’s forests, communities, and economy.

The Grey Anatomy of Canada: The Story Behind Canada’s Aging Population

Canada’s population is getting a makeover, and it is changing the way we live. We are digging into new demographic data with Patrick Charbonneau, Section Chief in Demography at Statistics Canada, to see how big boomer and millennial generations, plus fewer younger people, are shaking up demand for housing, schools, and healthcare. We also look at the rise of the sandwich generation, the caregiving squeeze that comes with longer lives and smaller families, and the many ways older Canadians keep things running through volunteering, childcare, and family support.

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Canada’s Happiness Crisis (And Why It’s Not All Doom and Gloom)

Everyone wants to be happy, but just how happy are Canadians? On this episode of the Eh Sayers podcast, join quality of life experts from Statistics Canada and Engage Nova Scotia to explore the importance of quality of life programs and what they tell us about our well-being.

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GDP Explained Without Putting You to Sleep (We Promise!)

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) tells us about the health and size of Canada’s economy. But for those of us who don’t own or operate multi-million-dollar companies, why does it matter at all? In this episode, Amanda Sinclair, Assistant director for the National Economic Accounts at Statistics Canada, explains some surprising ways GDP can be useful and why, for certain Canadian households, the numbers don’t always seem to add up. Economic accounts statistics

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A Christmas Tree Trivia Showdown

Think your Christmas tree knowledge is top‑notch? Time to put it to the test! In this holiday special of Eh Sayers, our colleagues face off in a trivia showdown all about Canada’s Christmas tree industry. Discover which nation first sparked the tradition, how much Canadian Christmas tree farmers earned in 2023, the surprising numbers behind exports and imports, and more festive facts. After listening, you’ll be the go‑to expert on Christmas trees at your holiday party! Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree - Statistics Canada

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Screens Replaced Play, and Our Bodies Noticed

Has Canada become a sedentary nation? Health data have never been more accessible. We have smart watches to count our steps, notifications about our screen times and apps to track our daily diets. Despite the futuristic tech, researchers are growing concerned. And they’re especially concerned about young Canadians. Today we sat down with Rachel Colley, a senior health researcher at StatCan for a deep dive into Canada’s obesity, physical activity and screen time trends. And the new data from the Canadian Health Measures survey may surprise you. The Daily — The prevalence of overweight and obesity is on the rise in Canada: New results from the Canadian Health Measures Survey, 2022 to 2024

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Canadians Just Aren't California Dreamin' These Days

Calllllll-i-forrrrr-nia... here we come? If you've changed your plans to visit the US recently, you're not alone. Nowadays, Canadians are more likely to be singing along to "Bobcaygeon" than "Sweet Home Alabama." Today, we're sitting down with Jane Lin, of the Tourism Statistics Program at Statistics Canada, to dig into StatCan's tourism data and talk about how travel is different these days. Travel and Tourism Statistics

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A Tariff on Both Your Houses

Two countries, both alike in dignity, In North America, where we lay our scene, From ancient friendship break to new trade tragedy, Of data on trade and tariffs, what might we glean? Join us as we speak with Guy Gellatly, Chief Economic Advisor, at Statistics Canada, as we explore what’s been going on with trade with our closest neighbour, what the early numbers suggest about the conflict, and what impact it might have on Canada’s economy. Focus on Canada and the United States

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Losing Our Religion? It's Not That Simple

Is that Canada in the corner? In the spotlight? Are we losing our religion? The census found that 12.6 million people reported no religious affiliation in 2021, more than 1/3 of Canada's population. But is there more to the picture? With guests Simon-Pierre Lacasse, Senior Analyst at StatCan, and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme, Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, we're exploring what's driving this trend, whether "no religion" means "no spirituality," and how the story varies from spiritual British Columbia to the cultural Catholicism of Quebec to the freshly painted churches of Atlantic Canada.

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What Does It Take to Exit Homelessness?

What is it that helps someone transition from homeless to housed? We’re looking at new analysis of data from the Canadian Housing Survey to explore exactly that. In conversation with Peter Tilley, the CEO of the Ottawa Mission, and Jeff Randle, Chief of the Housing Need Project section at Statistics Canada, we’re asking why homelessness (and homelessness data!) is more complex than you might think, what factors most often led to regaining housing, and why housing can be challenging to maintain even after it’s been regained. The Daily — Exiting homelessness: Results from the 2022 Canadian Housing Survey

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Mapping Happiness: How Where We Live Impacts Our Well-Being

It might not surprise you that your relationships with friends and family affect your well-being. Same with your health and your job. But what about the place where you live? Whether you live in the downtown core of a major city or a commuter town or a rural community, what impact does this have on your life satisfaction, loneliness and sense of belonging? StatCan’s Lauren Pinault joins us today at the mic to explore how the places we live affect our well-being. For more information: Beyond urban and rural: Rethinking the social geography of Canada

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Can Your Business Outsmart a Hacker?

Over two thirds (70%) of Canadians experienced a cyber security incident in 2022. The strategies used by bad actors are getting more and more complex. Many of us are inundated with what feels like never-ending phishing emails, scam text messages and fraudulent phone calls. It’s rare to talk to someone who hasn’t experienced some form of a cyber attack. The situation is no different for Canadian businesses. Identity theft, scams, fraud, and ransomware are only some of the ways cyber attackers are targeting businesses today. One cyber security breach can cost a business thousands of dollars and valuable time resources to neutralize. We wanted to know: Is cyber crime on the rise in Canada? What is the relatively new phenomenon of cyber risk insurance? And in what way are consumers affected when a business experiences a security breach? The Canadian Survey of Cyber Security and Cyber Crime has published new data and, in this episode, we sat down with Howard Bilodeau, an economist at Statistics Canada to answer our questions about how cyber security is changing for businesses and what it means for the rest of us.

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Is AI Coming For Your Job?

AI is here and it’s here to stay. Apps like ChatGPT are now allowing us to perform complex tasks with the click of a button. As we begin to use these new versions of AI, our jobs are destined to change. So, what will an average day of work look like a decade from now? Which jobs will AI impact the most? And is AI coming to replace our jobs altogether? In this episode, we sat down with AI expert Tahsin Mehdi, an economist in the social analysis and modeling division of Statistics Canada, to answer our questions about how AI will transform our work lives in Canada.

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Why Economists Are Sounding the Alarm on Productivity

Canada’s workforce is among the most educated in the world. But when it comes to worker productivity, we’ve seen a real slump over the past few years. The quarterly data published by StatCan in June 2024 confirms Canadian workers are continuing to underperform compared to our neighbours to the south. This comes as no surprise to this episode’s guest, Guy Gellatly, Chief Economic Advisor at StatCan. The latest quarterly numbers are a continuation of an on-going decline in Canada’s productivity that economists have been tracking for years. But what factors influence worker productivity? And why does it matter if Canadians are less productive? As a matter of fact, what even is productivity? In this episode, we asked Guy to help us understand how we got to this point and why it matters for Canadians.

It's Not Easy Bein' Green

We can try our best, but its not always easy knowing what's best for the environment. The world is complicated, and it isn't as simple as reduce, reuse, recycle—though that's a great place to start! In the immortal words of Kermit the Frog, "It's not easy bein' green." We have two stories exploring that theme. The first is one we made in-house asking just how green our digital world really is, and the second comes from the Simply Science podcast exploring the world of urban forests.

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Why Food Inflation Is Such a Hard Nut to Crack

Are you feeling like it's a little bit harder to bring home the bacon... from the grocery store? The latest data indicate that food prices have mostly stabilized... but why does it feel like the cost of feeding your family is still going up? Today we're talking food inflation with StatCan's resident smart cookie Taylor Mitchell.

It's 8 pm...Do You Know What Your Kids Are Googling?

StatCan released new analysis into the online culture our kids are growing up in, and it’s far from the best of all possible worlds: misinformation, bullying, violence… and worse. Analyst Rachel Tsitomeneas joins us to dive into the findings.

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How Do You Say "Language Revitalization" in Cree?

More than 70 distinct Indigenous languages are spoken by First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada, but these languages are under threat. In this episode, we speak with Randy Morin and Belinda kakiyosēw Daniels, who share their knowledge of the Cree language with learners at the Nêhiyawak Language Experience, about the wisdom encoded in Indigenous languages, as well as the opportunities for these languages and the barriers they face.

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When Out in the Pod There Arose Such a Clatter, We Turned Our Mics On to See What Was the Matter

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the studio Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the audio mixer with care, In hopes that a special guest soon would be there.

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