Cost of Livingwith Paul Haavardsrud
Latest
What could Canadians pay for pharmacare — and what are we already paying?
A look at the numbers and potential ideas for what a pharmacare program could look like for Canadians — and what it could cost.
Q&A
How daylight saving time can make you less productive, less ethical and more prone to injury at work
While many Canadians will welcome the extra hour of sleep as daylight time comes to an end, researchers say even small disruptions to our body clocks can have harmful effects especially when repeated night after night.
The astounding origin of Auto-Tune and its connection to the energy sector
The now-ubiquitous Auto-Tune has a surprising provenance: the oil and gas industry. Naturally the Cost of Living had to "Cher" the story.
Episode 9
Pharmacare: what's the prescription for your pocketbook? And is daylight saving actually time theft?
What could pharmacare actually cost Canadians if it's implemented by the federal government, compared with what it's costing us already? And the delightful origin story behind auto-tune. Plus what you sacrifice at work when you lose an hour or two of sleep.
Why the solution to your high cellphone bill could be a move to Saskatchewan
Millions of Canadians in Quebec and Saskatchewan are getting sweet deals on their cellphone plans compared to prices in other provinces. So aren't why those lower fees standard across the country?
Pig skin, dead wasps and bee vomit: what's really in that candy?
Insect and animal byproducts make up many common candy ingredients, such as natural red dye, confectioner’s glaze, gelatin and even honey.
Choppy waters at Hudson's Bay as the iconic store has "a lot more work to do"
Can The Bay — a store built on being all things to all people — really reinvent itself in an age of retail specialization?
Episode 8
Shopping for candy and cell phones — and will you even be able to buy them at The Bay in ten years?
More Bay Days aren't likely to help HBC last another decade — so what will? Plus what's really in your fig newton. And just how far do you have to move to get a deal on your cell phone bill?
Running for office? It'll cost all your money, friends and free time
The challenges faced by candidates running for federal election — money, time, lost opportunities and more — are real barriers that few Canadians can afford to surmount, according to political strategists and alumni alike.
The harsh growing pains of the marijuana business
It has been a year since Canada legalized marijuana. Cost of Living executive producer Tracy Johnson looks at who made money and who lost big in the world of bud.
Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio isn't a major election issue. But should it be?
Host Paul Haavardsrud looks at why the big parties running for election this year seem so comfortable with deficits. Should we be worried? It is our money they're spending after all.
Episode 7
The cost of running — either for election, or a deficit
What are the costs of running for election? Similarly, what does it cost for a government to run a deficit? And one year later — who are the winners and losers when it comes to cannabis in Canada?
It's used 4,600 times a second but many North Americans have never heard of Maggi
More than 4,600 food portions are prepared across the world using Maggi products every second, according to Nestlé. Yet many North Americans have never heard of it.
Why plant-based burgers should be 'Awesome' instead of trying to go 'Incogmeato'
There's an entire marketing apparatus trying to change how we feel about eating veggies as a main course, in the form of meat alternatives.
Q&A
It's not like the movies: insiders reveal the art of lobbying government
Two lobbyists sit down with Cost of Living host Paul Haavardsrud to talk about the dos and don’ts of lobbying.
Episode 6
How sugar dies in Canada — and umami thrives everywhere else
Food, glorious food: how lobbyists were involved in the death of a ban on junk food advertising to children, plus how meat alternatives are named and why you haven't heard of one of the world's most popular sauces
How accountants, math and 'Predator vision' combine to fight climate change
The business of carbon accounting is booming, using high-tech devices to detect greenhouse gases and the free market to fight climate change while making some money.
Carbon, carbon, bobarbon — the name game behind carbon pricing
Is a tax by any other name still a tax? Or maybe it's a levy, a price or a regulatory charge? A look at the different things we call the carbon tax, and why.
Taxing carbon in Canada's diesel-dependent North
There’s no easy alternative to carbon-intensive choices for people living in the remote communities of the Northwest Territories, who witness climate change every day.
Collective action and why it's so difficult when it comes to climate change
It's often said that Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are only a small fraction of the world's — how much of dealing with climate change is really on us? It's a collective action problem that, if unsolved, could have disastrous consequences.
Episode 5
Four things about the carbon tax
We answer why it has so many names, why carbon has its own accountants, why Canada's North has so few alternatives, and why is doing something about climate change so hard?
Many Canadians stumped by vehicle, clothing and tuition price trends
Canadians who tried guessing inflation rates have a pretty good handle on Canada's overall pricing trends but are less clear about how prices have fluctuated for specific categories of goods, according to results from CBC Radio’s Cost of Living inflation guessing game.
Higher home prices, higher debt levels and how they affect our choices
When it comes to the Cost of Living, the biggest ticket item, for most of us, is housing. Prices are way up, in Vancouver and Toronto, yes, but also around the country. Our wages, in turn, haven't come close to matching those gains. Paul Haavardsrud looks at how this matters to our life choices in ways many Canadians may or may not realize.
Promises, promises, promises: Whither the families, seniors, and income tax-paying Canadians?
Paul Haavardsrud is joined by Cost of Living executive producer Tracy Johnson to deconstruct some of the bigger promises as the parties campaign for your vote in the 2019 federal election.
The Cost of Living takes on the cost of living
Just what has changed about how much food, cars and tuition has cost Canadians over the past twenty years? The Cost of Living panel dissects the results of our Inflation Game.
