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5 Things to Know Today: Gas Tax Holiday Extended to 2027, BoC Holds, TSX Rebounds

  September 3, 2026 A big one for your wallet just landed: Ottawa is keeping the gas tax break alive well past Labour Day. Here's what else moved markets and money in Canada today. 1. Gas tax holiday extended to January 31, 2027 The federal fuel excise tax break that was set to expire on Labour Day (Sept. 7) isn't going anywhere. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne confirmed the suspension of the 10-cent-per-litre gasoline excise tax and 4-cent-per-litre diesel tax will now run until January 31, 2027, before being phased back in at half-rate from Feb. 1 to March 31 and fully restored April 1. Ottawa first introduced the break in April to offset oil-price shocks tied to the Iran war. What it means for you: The scheduled Sept. 8 jump of 10–11 cents a litre is off the table for now. CAA pegged the national average at 172.9 cents/litre this week — budget around that level rather than the higher price many drivers had braced for. 2. Bank of Canada holds rate at 2.25% for a...

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Global IT Meltdown: Faulty CrowdStrike Update Causes Widespread Chaos

 

In an unprecedented turn of events, a faulty update from cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike has triggered a global IT meltdown, causing millions of Windows computers to crash with the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD). The update, intended to enhance the security of CrowdStrike’s flagship product, Falcon Sensor, instead resulted in a critical failure that left businesses, airports, banks, and healthcare systems in disarray.

The issue began late Thursday and quickly spread as regions around the world started their day. The BSOD, a bright blue error screen indicating a critical system failure, appeared on millions of devices, rendering them unusable. CrowdStrike confirmed that the problem was due to a “logic error” in the update, which caused the operating system to crash.

The impact was immediate and widespread. Airports experienced significant delays, supermarket checkouts malfunctioned, and businesses struggled to maintain operations. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz issued an apology and assured that a fix had been deployed, but recovery is expected to take time due to the complexity of the issue.

Microsoft, whose Azure cloud services were also affected, is working closely with CrowdStrike to provide technical guidance and support to affected customers. As systems slowly come back online, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities inherent in our increasingly digital world.


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