Dana O’Born was most recently chief strategy officer at the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), which represents domestic tech scale-ups, as well as managing partner of its lobbying offshoot Signa Strategies. She will take over as chief of staff to Defence Minister David McGuinty on Tuesday, said spokesperson Muntaha Ahmed. iPolitics first reported the appointment. (The Logic, iPolitics)
The program will choose a new theme each year, like “AI and health,” and fund a dozen or more new scholars to take interdisciplinary approaches to that issue, the University of Toronto said in its announcement. The graduate students will be funded with $80,000 a year for four years and will be expected to work with each other, other students and professors doing related research and external partners in government or private industry. (The Logic)
Though Brookfield Asset Management is collaborating with other financial giants like Apollo, Blackstone and KKR on building data centres, CEO Connor Teskey said that even with “five or six of the leading players at one table,” his firm can differentiate itself by being choosy about the deals it actually pursues. (Semafor)
La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec pushed Blythe Masters, CEO of the U.K.-based fintech, to step down last month after it became frustrated with the company’s performance, according to the Financial Times. The pension fund, FNZ’s largest investor, valued its holdings in the company at at least $3 billion as of Dec. 31. (Financial Times)
A shipment of 30,000 tonnes of potash from the Belarusian Potash Company is due to arrive at a New Orleans port by mid-October as President Donald Trump seeks to restore diplomatic relations with the Russian ally—and, amid trade tensions with Canada, muses about diversifying where the U.S. gets the key fertilizer ingredient. (Financial Times)
Interest rate uncertainty and fluctuations in the bond market have been a challenge for housing developers, including Crown corporation Build Canada Homes, Ana Bailão, the agency’s CEO, said at an Empire Club of Canada event in Toronto on Friday. Thin margins on affordable housing builds have made those projects particularly vulnerable to market volatility, she said. (The Logic)
Though Prime Minister Mark Carney said he will use “the fullest extent of the law” to hold the steel company to its commitments, chief executive Lourenco Goncalves said that his company’s plans to lay off 500 workers were caused by issues beyond his control. (The Globe and Mail)
The Bank of Canada published background material on its most ambitious attempt to use math and computing power to create a schematic of the economy. Governor Tiff Macklem parked older models last month. Prima’s official debut will be at the central bank’s next interest rate decision on Oct. 28. (The Logic)
The company went public after finishing its merger with Viking Acquisition Corp. I, a special-purpose acquisition company that listed on the New York Stock Exchange last year. (The Logic)
Atul Tiwari’s company VerdX has applied to become Canada’s first investment dealer with an exclusive focus on prediction markets, which let users bet on the outcome of real-world events. (The Logic)