Hard Numbers: Bundle up, New capital gains rules, Big cocaine bust, CEOs rake it in, Hockey highlights

40: After a mild December, winter decided to finally show up. A powerful polar vortex will bring extreme cold and heavy snowfall to parts of Canada and the US in the coming days, with temperatures plunging as low as -40°C (-40°F) in the Canadian Prairies and dipping to -25°F (-32°C) in parts of the northern US Midwest. Regions from Alberta and Saskatchewan to the Great Lakes and New England will be most affected.

67: Tax filers in Canada face new tax rules on capital gains for 2024 after last year’s federal budget raised the capital gains tax inclusion rate from 50% to 67% on gains above $250,000. Taxpayers can still hope to avoid the increase: While the Canada Revenue Agency has provisionally enforced the measure since June 25, the changes were never passed by Parliament, so if the minority government falls or an election is called before it passes, it will not become law.

189: Canadian authorities announced that they seized 189 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated $2 million, at Alberta's Coutts border crossing with Montana, following a joint investigation by the Integrated Border Enforcement Team and Canadian Border Services Agency in November. The news came after the Alberta government’s announcement in December about a new Interdiction Patrol Team to intercept drug and firearms smuggling, in response to calls from US President-elect Donald Trump to beef up border security.

210: Canada's 100 top-paid CEOs earnedan average of $13.2 million in 2023 – 210 times more than the average worker, down from a high of over 240 times more in 2022 and 2021. The Centre for Policy Alternatives ascribes the difference to rising wages and declining corporate profits but notes that long-term trends show CEO-to-worker pay ratios have still steadily grown.

1: Team USA beat an “undisciplined” Team Canada 4-1 at the 50th World Junior Hockey Championship on New Year’s Eve, despite “plenty of fan noise” from their Ottawa audience. After the game, Canadian captain Brayden Yager commented, “We want to play those guys again and get some revenge.” That will have to wait until next year, but the first-place Americans face Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Thursday while third-place Canada plays Czechia.