The Big Story

It seems like you can place a bet on anything these days-- and in some places, you pretty much. With sites like Polymarket and Kalshi, you can put money on whether or not a politician will utter a phrase, major geopolitical events, how many goals an athlete might score, and more. But in Canada, stricter regulations have prevented these sights from spreading north of the U.S. border. But that's about to change. Wealthsimple, a Canadian finance company, is bringing Kalshi to the great white north-- if in a limited capacity. Today on The Big Story podcast, host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with Elliot Goodell Ugalde, a Ph. D candidate at Queen's University, specializing in political economy and the governance of artificial intelligence about the risks are of bringing prediction markets into the country, what the government could do to mitigate them, and how they could affect society.

Plus: Rogers reaches a deal to fully own many of Toronto’s biggest sports teams, new funding for energy projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan, a CN Rail train derails near Montreal, and what does the future of North American free trade look like?

On its July 1st deadline, U.S. President Trump declined to renew the current conditions of CUSMA. It doesn't mean Canada-US-Mexico trade as we know it dissolves, but it signals a need for trade diversification and an investment in Canada's sovereignty by the new 2036 deadline. Host Caryn Ceolin speaks to Julian Karaguesian, visiting professor at McGill University and former special advisor in the International Trade and Finance Branch of the Ministry of Finance Canada. They discuss the future of North American free trade - and what it means for your wallet.

Enjoy this special feed drop from our sister show 'In This Economy?!'. The economy started off 2026 in what economists called a 'technical recession', but a huge bounce-back at the start of the second quarter has raised some eyebrows about the validity of the Statistics Canada numbers in the first place. Host Mike Eppel speaks to LJ Valencia, an economist at Desjardins and co-author of a study called 'Diagnosing the Data Quality Crisis'. They discuss the cutbacks at the government data agency, the implications of questionable information for policy makers, and just how much we could trust the data.

Almost 14 years ago, Canada was reeling from the loss of its men's national team losing 8-1 to Honduras and crushing its dreams of qualifying from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Fast forward to the 2026 World Cup, and Canadian fans get to watch their team compete for a spot in the quarterfinals against Morocco. it's been a wild ride, to say the least! Guest host Devang Desai speaks with Footy Prime’s James Sharman about how we’ve reached the biggest game in the Canadian men’s national team history, the challenge presented by Morocco and overall feelings about the 2026 FIFA World Cup so far.

Payments begin for the federal government’s boosted affordability credit, a man suspected of hitting a beachgoer in the head with a log is released on bail, two women found guilty of murdering a boy they were trying to adopt, and ticks.

Ticks! The word tends to give Canadians of all stripes a sense of the creepy-crawlies-- and perhaps a touch of anxiety too. The small parasites that burrow into our skin and pose significant risk of Lyme disease are a regular summer worry for parents and pet owners-- and doubly so this year. A wave of ticks coming from the United States is expected to hit the country this summer, dramatically increasing the threat they pose-- and this could be the new normal. Host Catherine Jette speaks with Justin Wood, founder of 'Geneticks', Canada’s first private tick testing lab, about why this is happening, how you can protect yourself, and what a tick-filled summer might look like going forward.

Plus: Alberta announces a new oil pipeline, a lawsuit is filed over an alleged leak of Alberta voters’ personal information, Canada Post pauses shipping parcels to some European countries, a B.C. journalist reacts after a businessman whose followers protested outside his house is sentenced to decades in jail, and heat wave season kicks into high gear.

We're at a point where "record-breaking heat" has become a broken-record phrase. Year over year, we hear how many parts of the world have reached a new temperature high. And just days into summer 2026, things already ramped up, with intense and deadly heat waves gripping much of Europe, where temperatures pushed near 50 degrees. And North America hasn't been exempt, as July brings in a new wave of brutal heat. Today on The Big Story, host Caryn Ceolin speaks with City News' Chief Meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai about why the heat is ramping up, how it's going to affect you, and what we can do, if anything, to stop it.

Plus: Canada will play Morocco in the round of 16 at the World Cup, an America-themed beaver statue is destroyed in Toronto, B.C. nurses issue a strike notice, and Mark Carney’s plan to restore 24 Sussex.