Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s business and investing news quiz. Join us each week to test your knowledge of the stories making headlines. Our business reporters come up with the questions, and you can show us what you know.

This week: The Bank of Canada has held this country’s interest rate steady as Donald Trump’s Friday tariff deadline is set to be anything but. But which measure has the U.S. President already used this week to kick off the chaos? Take our quiz and find out.

1Good news! What plunged in Canada during the first six months of this year?

a. Armed robberies

b. Drug overdoses

c. Car thefts

d. Home break-ins

c. Car thefts. The number of vehicles reported stolen in Canada dropped 19.1 per cent in the first half of this year, according to insurance industry group Équité Association. That is an encouraging year-over-year trend, but police still have a lot of work to do. More than 23,000 vehicles were reported stolen during the first six months of 2025.

2Not so good news! How many applications did the Canadian National Exhibition receive for about 5,000 jobs at the two-week fair in Toronto?

a. Under 1,000

b. About 10,000

c. About 25,000

d. More than 50,000

d. More than 50,000. The CNE says it received more than 54,000 online job applications for jobs ranging from cashiers to game attendants. That is the highest number of applications it has ever received and reflects a dismal job market for young people.

3What product is Montreal-based engineering company AtkinsRéalis Group now pitching to customers in the United States?

a. Nuclear power plants

b. Monorails

c. Solar-powered desalination plants

d. Automated liquor stores

a. Nuclear power plants. AtkinsRéalis, the company formerly known as SNC-Lavalin, is pushing its nuclear technology in a U.S. market that is trying to keep up with galloping growth in demand for electricity.

4What new policy twist did China unveil this week?

a. Unemployment insurance

b. Baby bonuses

c. A ban on U.S. news channels

d. A shorter work week

b. Baby bonuses. China unveiled its first nationwide subsidy for children as it tries to stop its already low birth rate from declining even further. The country that once had a one-child rule will now pay parents a subsidy equivalent to US$500 a year for each child under the age of 3.

5Why was Novo Nordisk, maker of weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic, in the news this week?

a. It unveiled a new weight-loss pill

b. It mulled a move out of Denmark

c. Its stock soared

d. Its stock crashed

d. Its stock crashed. Novo Nordisk’s share price fell more than 20 per cent the day after it slashed its sales outlook, blaming growing competition from copycat “compounder” drugs.

6Ontario Premier Doug Ford just cancelled a contract with a U.S. company. Which company?

a. Tesla

b. Starlink

c. JP Morgan

d. Trump Group

b. Starlink. Mr. Ford had vowed during his winter re-election campaign to rip up the province’s $92-million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink communications company in retaliation for U.S. tariffs. This week, his team announced he had done so. But how much did the province pay to get out of the deal? It won’t say.

7Which two railways are seeking to join together in a massive US$85-billion merger?

a. Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific

b. BNSF and CSX

c. Norfolk Southern and CPKC

d. BNSF and Union Pacific

a. Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific. Union Pacific wants to buy Norfolk Southern in a deal that would create the first transcontinental railway in the United States. If regulators approve the mammoth merger, it could spur more consolidation in the industry.

8“Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” is the tagline for a new ad campaign that is stirring controversy. Which retailer is running the ads?

a. American Eagle Outfitters

b. Levi Strauss

c. Uniqlo

d. Old Navy

a. American Eagle’s ad has attracted a backlash from critics who claim it encourages the notion that blonde, blue-eyed people, such as Ms. Sweeney, represent a genetic ideal.

9It was tariff week – again. Amid a flurry of other trade announcements, U.S. President Donald Trump also suspended the “de minimis” exemption. What is that?

a. An exemption for goods from developing nations

b. An exemption for books and music

c. An exemption for small businesses

d. An exemption for low-value shipments

d. An exemption for low-value shipments. The provision used to permit shipments valued at under US$800 to avoid U.S. duties. Its suspension could prove devastating for Canadian retailers who rely on U.S. shoppers.

10The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady this week. How many times in a row has the central bank now declined to change rates?

a. Once

b. Twice

c. Three times

d. Four times

c. Three times. It was the third consecutive time the Bank of Canada held its benchmark rate steady at 2.75 per cent. The central bank’s reluctance to cut borrowing costs was not great news for homeowners who took out mortgages when rates were much lower five years ago.

114AG Robotics of British Columbia just raised $40-million in growth capital. What do its robots do?

a. Hunt for earthworms

b. Pick mushrooms

c. Search for truffles

d. Tend vineyards

b. Pick mushrooms. 4AG – that’s pronounced “forage,” get it? – makes mushroom-picking robots. It brought its first robots into service last year and has sold 53 of the machines at more than $300,000 each.

12How much does it now cost (in Canadian dollars) to hire a nanny in London?

a. About $45,000 a year

b. About $75,000 a year

c. About $90,000 a year

d. About $120,000 a year

c. About $90,000 a year. You think child-care costs a lot in Canada? Annual wages for a full-time nanny in London jumped nearly 10 per cent over the past year and now top £50,000 ($91,000), according to Nannytax, a payroll provider and employment consultancy.

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