Good morning. Smoke has eased in eastern Canada, but wildfires continue to rage all over the country. More on that below, along with reliving Spain’s World Cup win and reimagining the family home.
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Fires persist even after smoke subsides
As wildfires continued to burn from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, criticism mounted over Ontario’s handling of fires that tore through Indigenous communities. After angry First Nations leaders accused the province of failing to act sufficiently, Premier Doug Ford came to Thunder Bay to address the situation. But his appearance on Saturday only seemed to stoke further discontent.
The evacuees: Hundreds of people are sheltering in a Thunder Bay hotel and wondering if their homes will still be standing when they return. Many more evacuees from other communities – including the fire-ravaged Collins First Nation – are also in the city. Some recall their harrowing escapes.
The numbers: Nearly 1,000 wildfires are burning from coast to coast, according to the national wildland fire summary. Data on the federal fire tracking system show that the five-year averages of the number of fires and hectares burned across Canada – 3,739 and 4.3 million, respectively – are substantially higher than the 10-, 15- and 20-year averages. Prime Minister Mark Carney says more than 5,000 firefighters and nearly 300 waterbombers and other aircraft are battling blazes.
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Ferran Torres of Spain celebrates scoring his team’s game-winning goal during the FIFA World Cup final against Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium.David Ramos/Getty Images
Spain wins World Cup after defeating Argentina 1-0
Spanish substitute Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to give his team a 1-0 win over defending champion Argentina in yesterday’s World Cup final. Spain dominated throughout the match with 15 shots in regulation play, while Argentina had none. Lionel Messi and his team found a way to hang on and force extra time, but in the end, could not find the back of the net.
The take: For most of the planned running time of Sunday’s World Cup final, the focus wasn’t soccer. It was the pre-game show, the halftime show and the Donald Trump show, with an amateur karate demonstration interspersed in between, Cathal Kelly writes.
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People stand on a bridge destroyed after a strike in Hormozgan province, southern Iran, on July 18.Amirhosein Khorgooi/The Associated Press
U.S. and Iran attacks risk expanding conflict
The United States and Iran have gradually returned closer to all-out war. The U.S. launched more air strikes in Iran today and over the weekend in response to Friday’s killing of American troops in Jordan. Israel warned Iran that missiles launched toward neighbouring Jordan could cause fire to spill over and risk widening the conflict.
Last weekend: The U.S. has targeted bridges, water desalination plants and electrical facilities in Iran, to try to send a message to loosen its hold on the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has retaliated by hitting U.S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East. An Iranian negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal to end the war, and accused the U.S. of violating it.
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Ricardo Sustaita and Iliriana Pantina in Kelowna, B.C., on June 26.Aaron Hemens/The Globe and Mail
Foreign care workers stuck in limbo
Labour and migrant worker groups have long complained that the government deprioritizes care workers in its immigration plans, despite a documented shortage affecting families in need of care, including for disabled and elderly relatives. Now, tens of thousands of home caregivers who had either come to Canada to work with families or trained as personal support workers are trapped in a convoluted bureaucratic maze.
The context: These caregivers applied for permanent residence through a dedicated immigration stream for home care workers in March, 2025. The program took 5,500 applications, only a fraction of total demand. More than a year later, they have received no updates from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on their applications. Many are now living in Canada on expired work permits, unable to legally work.
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Writer Samantha Paige Rosen asks: Are there better ways of living together than the single-family home?iStockPhoto / Getty Images
Redefining the single-family home
Alternative living arrangements to the conventional family home are on the upswing as the structure of community continues to evolve. Nuclear households have been on a steady decline. The number of children living with two married parents dropped to 63 per cent in 2021 from nearly 94 per cent in 1961, according to Statistics Canada.
More than roommates: Samantha Paige Rosen wrote a collection of essays to broaden our concept of home, including the idea that connection is more valuable than independence. “That’s a big part of the loneliness. It’s not that we only need more people around because we need help. We need people because we need sounding boards, joy and laughter,” she said.
The Take
I survived what I know to be an attack on my life. But survival is not the same as justice, and silence is not the same as safety. If democracies want to defend freedom, they must understand that the struggle does not end when a dissident escapes an authoritarian state.
— Natalia Arno, founder and CEO of the Free Russia Foundation
After Natalia Arno spent years working to expose the crimes of Vladimir Putin’s government, the Russian regime tried to kill her. But what happened next was just as chilling.
The Shot
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Planes are built at Airbus Canada Limited Partnership in Mirabel, Que., on Jan. 16.ROGER LEMOYNE/The Globe and Mail
In a struggling economy, Canadian aerospace is flying high. So what could spoil the party? Plenty, starting with the possibility that the industry could get dragged into Trump’s trade war.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: Jeffrey Rath built a career as one of the few lawyers in Western Alberta practising Indigenous law. But his work for First Nations has also led to disputes with former clients dating back more than a decade.
Abroad: In recent weeks and on the weekend, Moscow has stepped up its use of ballistic missiles, highlighting Ukraine’s shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defence systems.
Entertain: Meet Chip Zdarsky, the Canadian behind the monthly Captain America title published by Marvel Comics.
Emcee: Winnipeg’s Wab Kinew, New York’s Zohran Mamdani and Nepal’s Balendra Shah. How did electing former rappers become politics as usual?
Off-book: With one year left for Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem, it’s still one battle after another, writes economics reporter Mark Rendell.
Leading man: After NASA scrapped its mission, China could be first to bring samples back from Mars.