Hard Numbers: Ditch the monarchy, eh?, we’re #2! , here comes Hurricane Lee, Ontario housing boom falls short

63: Barely one year into the reign of King Charles III – who is technically the king of Canada – 63% of Canadians say it’s time to rethink ties with the British crown. That’s up seven percentage points from March. And just over half of Canadians agreed with the statement that “we have to get rid of” the monarchy altogether.

2: The US News and World Report ranked Canada the No. 2 country in the world after Switzerland according to an array of lifestyle metrics. It may be hard for Canadians to miss out on the top spot — but the US isn’t even on the podium, coming in at fifth place.

90: Hurricane Lee is churning up the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour, and is expected to strike Canada’s Atlantic provinces and New England over the weekend. Warm waters worsened by climate change and an El Niño event are driving a particularly harsh hurricane season, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicting up to 21 storms this year.

44,000: Ontario reported the highest number of new housing construction projects in 30 years, with 44,000 new builds underway in the first half of 2023. Unfortunately, that pace is well shy of the annual target of 150,000 housing starts that the province has set in order to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031.