Good morning. Yesterday we talked about the burden of being young, as uncertainty and missed payments haunt many Canadians. With today’s inflation report from Statistics Canada, we’ll get the latest economic picture. But we have a rather positive data set in this newsletter: Gen Z is saving more than any other age group. That’s in focus today, along with the latest on the Air Canada strike and some new lingo in the dictionary.

Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants have reached a tentative deal to end a strike that began on Saturday morning. The airline said it will gradually resume operations today. The two sides met through the night with a federal mediator before reaching an agreement that will be brought to members of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

A key demand over unpaid work could set a precedent for other major carriers in Canada and around the world, experts say. The union has said its flight attendants work an average of 35 hours a month for free, almost a week’s worth of pay, because of the long-standing practice of paying flight attendants primarily based on the time they are in the air.

Also read:

• The law: Air Canada strike puts Ottawa’s favourite tool for quashing labour unrest in crosshairs.
• The passengers: As of late Monday afternoon, the carrier expects about 500,000 passengers will have their travel plans disrupted.
• The disruptions: Stuck at home or stranded abroad? Here are your options if you have travel plans with Air Canada.

Artificial intelligence: The federal government is working with Toronto-based AI startup Cohere to look for ways to deploy artificial intelligence across its operations.

Gold: Chinese customs agency data show gold was China’s No. 1 import from Canada in 2024, more than 10 times higher than Canadian export statistics suggest.

Analysis: Mark Carney’s promised automotive strategy has yet to take shape, and his government is starting to come under pressure to deliver.

• More to come: Canadian armoured-vehicle maker Roshel is partnering with Swedish steel producer Swebor to manufacture ballistic-grade steel in Canada
• Today: Statistics Canada’s inflation report for July.
• Results: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has won a federal by-election in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, setting the stage for his return to the House of Commons.
• Earnings: Home Depot Inc., which missed second-quarter estimates.

Lately, my social feeds have been flooded with the same message on repeat: Start saving early.

There are endless scrolls of posts breaking down how much you’ll have if you begin investing at 18 versus 25, or how a decade of delay can shave hundreds of thousands off your retirement nest egg.

Sure, my algorithm is probably skewed, given that I’m a personal finance reporter. But even friends in completely different careers tell me they’re seeing the same thing.

This advice isn’t locked up in textbooks or behind a paywall any more. It’s bite-sized, viral and free. Young people are online and gobbling it up. And it seems to be working.

Gen Z Canadians – born between 1996 and 2012 – are proving to be surprisingly disciplined savers. Recent TD Bank data show 68 per cent of them invest consistently each year, the highest share of any generation.

They’re also contributing more to their registered retirement savings plans than millennials did at the same age. In 2023, the median RRSP contribution for Canadians under 25 was $1,880, about 20 per cent more than millennials contributed in 2009, even after adjusting for inflation.

That’s despite Gen Z coming of age in one of the toughest job markets in decades, all the while staring down sky-high housing prices and a high cost of living. That’s also despite what we wrote about in yesterday’s business brief: the growing gap between those doing well and those who are struggling.