Good morning. Yesterday we talked about the burden of being young, as uncertainty and missed payments haunt many Canadians. With today’s inflation report from Statistics Canada, we’ll get the latest economic picture. But we have a rather positive data set in this newsletter: Gen Z is saving more than any other age group. That’s in focus today, along with the latest on the Air Canada strike and some new lingo in the dictionary.
Airing grievances outside Pearson International Airport.Sarah Espedido/The Globe and Mail
Up first
Truce in the Air Canada labour dispute
Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants have reached a tentative deal to end a strike that began on Saturday morning. The airline said it will gradually resume operations today. The two sides met through the night with a federal mediator before reaching an agreement that will be brought to members of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
A key demand over unpaid work could set a precedent for other major carriers in Canada and around the world, experts say. The union has said its flight attendants work an average of 35 hours a month for free, almost a week’s worth of pay, because of the long-standing practice of paying flight attendants primarily based on the time they are in the air.
Also read:
- The law: Air Canada strike puts Ottawa’s favourite tool for quashing labour unrest in crosshairs.
- The passengers: As of late Monday afternoon, the carrier expects about 500,000 passengers will have their travel plans disrupted.
- The disruptions: Stuck at home or stranded abroad? Here are your options if you have travel plans with Air Canada.
In the news
Artificial intelligence: The federal government is working with Toronto-based AI startup Cohere to look for ways to deploy artificial intelligence across its operations.
Gold: Chinese customs agency data show gold was China’s No. 1 import from Canada in 2024, more than 10 times higher than Canadian export statistics suggest.
Analysis: Mark Carney’s promised automotive strategy has yet to take shape, and his government is starting to come under pressure to deliver.
On our radar
- More to come: Canadian armoured-vehicle maker Roshel is partnering with Swedish steel producer Swebor to manufacture ballistic-grade steel in Canada
- Today: Statistics Canada’s inflation report for July.
- Results: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has won a federal by-election in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, setting the stage for his return to the House of Commons.
- Earnings: Home Depot Inc., which missed second-quarter estimates.
Jens Kristian Balle/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
In focus
Gen Z is obsessed with saving
Lately, my social feeds have been flooded with the same message on repeat: Start saving early.
There are endless scrolls of posts breaking down how much you’ll have if you begin investing at 18 versus 25, or how a decade of delay can shave hundreds of thousands off your retirement nest egg.
Sure, my algorithm is probably skewed, given that I’m a personal finance reporter. But even friends in completely different careers tell me they’re seeing the same thing.
This advice isn’t locked up in textbooks or behind a paywall any more. It’s bite-sized, viral and free. Young people are online and gobbling it up. And it seems to be working.
Gen Z Canadians – born between 1996 and 2012 – are proving to be surprisingly disciplined savers. Recent TD Bank data show 68 per cent of them invest consistently each year, the highest share of any generation.
They’re also contributing more to their registered retirement savings plans than millennials did at the same age. In 2023, the median RRSP contribution for Canadians under 25 was $1,880, about 20 per cent more than millennials contributed in 2009, even after adjusting for inflation.
That’s despite Gen Z coming of age in one of the toughest job markets in decades, all the while staring down sky-high housing prices and a high cost of living. That’s also despite what we wrote about in yesterday’s business brief: the growing gap between those doing well and those who are struggling.
Tani Imasogie, a 28-year old living in Toronto, opened an RRSP when she was 21. Gen Z Canadians are contributing more to RRSPs than millennials did at the same age, even after adjusting for inflation.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
You may be wondering: How? With platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, they have a world of financial advice at their fingertips. The challenge, of course, is knowing how to sort the solid guidance from the bad takes and misinformation.
But it’s not just social media. DIY investing platforms such as Wealthsimple and Questrade make it easier for people to invest without barriers.
The obsession with long-term wealth building isn’t just Canadian, either. In the U.S., a new “baby bonds” program signed last month by President Donald Trump will give every American citizen born between 2025 and 2028 a $1,000 investment from the government. Left untouched, that could grow to nearly $2,900 by the time they turn 18, without a single dollar added.
We don’t really have a Canadian equivalent, other than the Canada Learning Bond, which helps low-income families save for postsecondary education.
A lot of young people are also holding off on buying a home – not necessarily because they want to but because they can’t afford to. The plus side is that many are making the most of it by redirecting money that would have gone toward a down payment into investments instead.
Put it all together and the trend is clear: Whether it’s because of economic anxiety, access to free financial advice or a front-row seat to millennial struggles, young people are rewriting the savings playbook.
And if the numbers keep trending this way, they might just be the most financially prepared generation yet.
Charted
A history lesson
The conflict at Air Canada ties into a much longer history of Canadian governments attempting to impose labour peace by clamping down on workers’ right to strike. Today’s debacle shows Ottawa failed to learn from history, writes Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University.
Bookmarked
On our reading list
Say: Skibidi, tradwife and delulu are among 6,000 new words added to the Cambridge Dictionary.
Spend: Can the rich continue to prop up U.S. consumer spending?
Stay: Being a stay-at-home parent sometimes means the numbers don’t add up.
Morning update
Global markets were mixed ahead of a key meeting of U.S. central bankers and as traders evaluated promising diplomatic signals toward ending hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Wall Street futures were little changed, while TSX futures pointed higher.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.4 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.26 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.16 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.67 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.38 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.21 per cent.
The Canadian dollar traded at 72.41 U.S. cents.