8 Things You Need To Know For September 28

Good morning — Andrew from Narcity here! ☕

Off The Top: With Atlantic hurricane season very much underway, our Jenna Kelley reports that denizens of the southern U.S. are sounding the alarm over a tell-tale sign of impending doom: the sudden appearance of one notorious Weather Channel storm-chaser.

In Case You Missed It

1. Canada Slipped To No. 3 Spot In An Annual Best Countries Ranking

While Canada is still on the podium, our country fell from the top spot to No. 3 overall on the U.S. News Best Countries report, being overtaken by Switzerland at No. 1 and Germany at No. 2, Helena Hanson writes. The annual ranking weighs a number of factors like quality of life, power and cultural influence to determine its order. While Canada performed well in a number of categories, it also scored relatively low in "adventure" and "sexiness." Helena breaks down the full report here.

• Go Deeper: In trumpeting their accomplishments, the report touted Switzerland's quality of life, tourism, "educated population" and commitment to human rights. It also noted the Swiss' friendliness toward business.
• My Take: Adventure and sexiness? Is this a ranking of countries or the casting process for the next James Bond?

2. Wages Are Rising Across Canada — For Some More Than Others

According to consulting firm Eckler, Canada's national average base salary is expected to rise by 4.2% in 2023, with B.C., Ontario and Quebec seeing the largest year-to-year bump in compensation. Naturally, given the tight labour market, some industries are projected to see bigger raises than others. At the high end, the information technology sector could be in line for a 5.4% raise; on the other end of the spectrum, the education, health care, agriculture and hospitality sectors could see the lowest raises. For more insight into the data, here's Tristan Wheeler.

• My Take: I'm not an economist, but if Statistics Canada is reporting that the health care and food service industries have the highest volume of job vacancies, maybe employers should be looking at raising those salaries to attract more workers.

3. POV: Here's What Not To Do While Spending An Evening At The Movies

Tristan goes back-to-back in our rundown today. For piece No. 2, he taps into his deep reservoir of experience from years working in movie theatres to explain the things you should never do at your local multiplex. For one, if you've ever seen what most "butter" (heavy quotation marks alert) looks like before it's doused all over your $15 popcorn, you'd probably skip the fake stuff all together. From getting freaky in the dark to trying to sneak in messy, smelly food, here are six other major movie theatre faux pas to avoid.

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What Else You Need To Know Today

🏆 SCOUT'S HONOUR
Scouts Canada has awarded 10 special badges famous Canadians for reflecting "the core values of Scouting," Sarah Rohoman reports. Among the celebs to garner recognition are Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Oh, Celine Dion, Elliot Page, Dan Levy and (naturally) Terry Fox with a posthumous honour. You can read the exact rationale for each badge here.

🦖 DINO DAYS
The Toronto Raptors' 2022-23 season opener is a little over two weeks away but Canada's pro hoops stars are already bringing the drama. All-Star guard Fred VanVleet wouldn't discuss his long-term future with the team but seemed to suggest an extension was quite possible. "I'm happy where I am, and I think it's a mutual love," the 28-year-old said, according to Patrick John Gilson.

📌 JOB BOARD
If you've got tech skills, the world is apparently your oyster. Ashley Harris scoured the job boards and found six remote jobs based out of British Columbia — and each of them pulls in over $100,000 annually. From general software engineers to visual effects leads, check out the full list.

✈️ FLIGHT PLAN
It is indeed a small world. After all, with Westjet dropping its flights to Orange County, California, by 15% through September 30, Canadians will find that a trip to Disneyland is a little cheaper than usual. Katherine Caspersz breaks down the flights deals for us.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
Toronto Raptors center Khem Birch turns 30 years old today. Hilary Duff, every millennial's childhood crush, is 35. Late Ottawa Senators goalie Ray Emery would've turned 40 today. Burlesque star Dita Von Teese hits the big 5-0. Naomi Watts is 54. 50s and 60s sex symbol Brigitte Bardot turns 88. The Chinese philosopher Confucius was born on this day in 551 BC, apparently.

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — where we all must patiently await merit badges for our Herculean commitment to checking our email inboxes every morning.

Have any questions or comments about today's edition? Let me know at andrew.potter@narcity.com or hit me up on Twitter if you'd prefer at @andrewjoepotter.

Have a great day and I will see you back here tomorrow!