Carney calls August byelections in three ridings as Gordie Howe Bridge opens

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced three federal byelections for August 31 in North Vancouver–Capilano (British Columbia), Beaches–East York (Ontario), and Chicoutimi–Le Fjord (Quebec). The Liberals triggered the elections after Jonathan Wilkinson, the longtime cabinet minister, accepted an appointment as Canada's ambassador to the European Union; Nate Erskine-Smith resigned to pursue a Toronto city council bid; and Richard Martel was appointed to the Senate. The Liberals currently hold 172 seats in Parliament, making the three contests significant for control of the house (via Global News).

Gordie Howe Bridge opens after eight-year wait. The Gordie Howe International Bridge, a $4.54 billion cable-stayed span linking Windsor and Detroit, opened to traffic at noon on Monday, July 27, ending eight years of construction and two decades of planning. The opening unfolded as a Canadians-only ribbon-cutting after the U.S. cancelled a joint ceremony in response to Trump's new 50 percent tariffs announced the week before. Hundreds of millions of dollars in trade cross the Windsor–Detroit corridor every day, making it the busiest international land border crossing in North America (via CBC News).

One in ten Canadian emergency room doctors are leaving the profession due to burnout, according to research published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The study tracked 410 emergency medicine physicians across all provinces and found that 65 percent scored high for emotional exhaustion or depersonalization. An additional 48 percent have reduced their hours. High patient volumes, overcrowding, and bed blocking are taking their toll on physician well-being, a crisis that has not resolved since the pandemic (via CTV News).

Expand Energy acquires Twin Eagle Holdings for $1.25 billion. The Calgary-based natural gas producer announced a definitive merger agreement to buy Twin Eagle Holdings, a privately held gas marketer, from Five Point Infrastructure for US$1.25 billion. The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, will make Expand Energy North America's largest integrated gas player and boost its projected free cash flow by 50 percent, reaching $750 million per year (via BetaKit).

Brookfield raises $2 billion for Middle East expansion. Brookfield Asset Management secured $2 billion in its first close of a new private equity fund backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Brookfield itself is committing $500 million to Brookfield Middle East Partners, which will allocate half its capital to Saudi Arabia and the rest across the Gulf region, targeting buyouts and growth equity in sectors including technology, healthcare, and financial services (via The Globe and Mail).

Toronto-based Cohere joined over 75 companies and investors in a letter calling for open-weight artificial intelligence models, endorsing the release of large language models that can be downloaded, modified, and run on custom infrastructure. The move marks a rare public stance for the unicorn startup, which has also released its most powerful model, Command A+, as open source (via BetaKit).

TravelAI acquires Sonder brand from bankruptcy. Vancouver-based agentic travel platform TravelAI bought the Sonder brand and trademark out of bankruptcy after a Quebec court approved the sale on July 6 and the deal closed on July 13. Sonder, the Canadian-founded unicorn, shuttered operations in November 2025. TravelAI is relaunching Sonder.com as a guide to urban stays and a flagship consumer brand built on TravelAI's memory infrastructure for the travel industry (via BetaKit).

Tenor raises $2.5 million for blockchain lending. Quebec City-based Tenor, which is building a decentralized finance platform for institutional lending, secured $2.5 million USD in seed funding led by venture firm Variant. The fixed-rate lending platform went live on Base on July 21 and is targeting the $200 trillion global fixed-rate market by routing large borrowing and lending on stablecoin rails (via BetaKit).

An unidentified shooter fired at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto early Monday morning at 4:46 a.m., hitting the building's facade and leaving a shell casing behind. No injuries were reported. A white Honda Accord with no license plates sped away and triggered a high-speed chase that lasted an hour, but no arrest was made. The incident marks the second such attack on the same building this year, following shots fired in March that led to the death of a police officer (via CBC News).

Northwestern Ontario wildfires escalate as road closes. There are 122 active wildfires burning across northwestern Ontario, with the region grappling with road closures and suspended mail delivery in evacuated communities. All lanes on Lac des Mille Lacs Road are closed from Inwood Road to Highway 17 due to wildfire activity, affecting Cat Lake, Armstrong Station, and Collins. Ontario is facing its worst wildfire season on early estimates, as forecasted heat and below-normal rainfall continue to drive up fire danger across the country (via CBC News).

Hockey Canada opened summer camp for U18 and U20 prospects in Edmonton beginning July 27, marking the start of what the federation is calling its "road to redemption" after a bronze-medal finish at the 2026 World Juniors in Minnesota. The U18 selection camp runs through August 2 at NAIT Arena and Rogers Place, with the team set to play Sweden on July 30 and the United States on August 1. The camp is a tune-up toward the 2027 World Junior Championship, which Canada will co-host in Edmonton and Red Deer over the Christmas holidays (via TSN).