The world’s largest 3D-printed community is taking shape in Texas, perfecting a process that the developer says is a cheaper, quicker and less wasteful option to the traditional homebuilding process.
Last summer, a robotic printer from ICON finished printing the last few homes in Wolf Ranch, a community in Georgetown, Texas, just down the road from Austin.
Now, residents are settling into their concrete homes and raving about the durability and safety.
The exterior view of the 3D-printed homes in Wolf Ranch.
Handout / ICON
“I feel safer in this house than any house I’ve ever lived in, because it’s so well built, it’s not going to burn down,” Holly Feekings, who has been living in her Wolf Ranch home for about a year, told CNBC.
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The forward-thinking development is a collaboration project between Lennar, the U.S.’s second-largest homebuilder, and ICON, a 3D technology company.
A view of a Wolf Ranch home kitchen.
Handout / ICON
ICON, reports Reuters, began printing walls for the community back in 2022, starting with just two 40-foot robot printers. By 2023, 11 machines were working around the clock, seven days a week, to churn out two homes per week.
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Compared to traditional construction, the company says that 3D printing homes is faster, less expensive, requires fewer workers, and minimizes construction material waste.
“It brings a lot of efficiency to the trade market,” ICON senior project manager Conner Jenkins told Reuters last summer. “So, where there were maybe five different crews coming in to build a wall system, we now have one crew and one robot.”
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Massive 3D printers work to build homes at Wolf Ranch.
Handout / ICON
The walls of each home are made from a mix of concrete powder, sand, water and additives that are added to the printer and then pumped out through a nozzle, adding layer upon layer and building up the wall.
While the process looks like toothpaste being squeezed from a tube, the final product gives the walls the look of corduroy fabric.
Lennar offers eight different single-storey, three- and four-bedroom models and each home is solar-powered, meaning the power bills are shockingly low for those living there — Feekings told CNBC that her electric bill was just US$26 last month.
A view of the patio.
Handout / ICON
The concrete design of the walls also keeps the homes cool in Texas’ gruelling summer heat and warm when cooler temperatures take hold in the fall.
The only part of the homes that aren’t 3D-printed is the metal roofing.
“We have a durable product here that if you look at its wind resistance for hurricanes, its fire resistance for fire-worn areas — the ability to adapt modern product to what we need for the future in housing and building a healthier housing market is amazing,” Stuart Miller, chairman and co-CEO of Lennar, told CNBC.
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A rendering shows Wolf Ranch during the home construction phase.
Handout / ICON
Homes in Wolf Ranch start around US$400,000 (approx. C$575,000) and come with solar panels and smart home technology, features the builders say help homeowners save further on utility bills.
Miller told CNBC that his company is now planning a second 3D-printed community in Texas, but this time it will feature double the number of structures, larger homes and will be even more affordable.
Edmonton woman, 21, developing 3D printer for space and working for NASA
Editor’s note: In a five-part series, Jayme Doll explores the struggles some Albertans experience in getting their reproductive conditions recognized and treated. Part 1 is in the video player above. The rest of the series will be added as it airs the week of March 10-14.
There are no shortage of labels and euphemisms for it: time of the month, aunt flo, shark week, code red, or, as most of us know it — periods.
A natural, love-hate reality bonding together half of the world’s population.
For some, menstruation is a life-giving gift —for others it can be a week or more of sheer hell.
For far too long, many women have been sitting in silent, crippling agony every month that far exceeds the boundaries of normal.
“You always have those that say, ‘Oh it’s just bad cramps, oh it’s just a tummy ache.’ But I knew my body and I knew something was wrong,” said Canmore’s Katie Leaf.
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“I feel so often we are discredited, told we are fine or it’s not much pain, ignored, passed on.”
“It’s really frustrating, I feel the anger of not being listened to,” she said.
Katie’s pain started as a teenager, she never gave up advocating for herself. At 21 years old, she was diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
“I have landed in the hospital quite a few times — the pain is blinding. You can’t move, you can’t think straight, can’t see straight.”
It took 23 years for Laura McDonald to get a diagnosis for her excruciating a period pain, also due to endometriosis.
“I’ve been told that the pain was in my head that I imagined the pain at times,” she said. “I had health anxiety and was referred to counseling I had have to do cognitive behavior therapy.
“I didn’t know what was wrong with me.”
Both polycystic ovarian syndrome (also called polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS) and endometriosis impacts 1 in 10 people of reproductive age.
PCOS is a hormonal imbalance disorder that causes irregular cyst growth, the presence of extra male hormones (which can cause acne or unwanted facial hair) and irregular periods. It can cause infertility issues.
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With endometriosis, cells normally found in the lining of the uterus spread to other parts of the body, causing debilitating pain, heavy bleeding and at times, also infertility.
Currently, the gold standard to being diagnosed with endometriosis is through laparoscopic surgery, where surgeons will often then try to excise the endometrial tissue growing outside the uterus and repair any damage.
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But there is no guarantee of it not growing back. Both Katie and Laura, now in their 30s, have had surgery — Katie has underwent it multiple times.
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“I remember talking to the surgeon in my post-op and he used the word ‘infertile’ and as a 21-year-old woman, I always wanted to be a mom. That was really hard to hear,” Katie said.
Both women agree the diagnosis helped validate their pain and finally opened more doors to help manage it, many are still waiting.
Endometriosis Statistics.
Infographic by Fasai Sivieng
“I just physically can’t get out of bed, I can’t move, so it’s stopped me in a lot of ways from just living,” said Edmonton’s Rose Plican.
The 19-year-old NAIT student’s debilitating periods have forced her to hit pause on her studies many times.
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“It’s a lot of men in my class and so you are sitting there, you are dying in class — and they are like, ‘You ok? What’s going on with you?’
“How am I supposed to explain to a bunch of dudes that, like, I’m on my period I just need to go home?”
“It’s embarrassing, especially if you flow through,” she added.
Canada must offer ‘gold-standard’ endometriosis care so women don’t seek help abroad: patient
Rose is on a two-year waiting list to see a gynecologist and has been waiting months for a pelvic scan.
“It’s an 8.5-year diagnostic delay worldwide, Canada is at 5.3 years I think that’s extraordinary,” said Carolyn Plican, Rose’s Mom, who is also a women’s health-care advocate.
Carolyn discovered a new technology created in the U.S. and now being used in the Middle East, UK and at one clinic in Canada.
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It is a non-invasive diagnostic test for endometriosis called EndoSure that promises to take just 30 minutes.
Plican was so passionate about it and helping her daughter she took her certification to use the technology.
“Suddenly when you are diagnosed, you know it’s not in your head so it gives you permission to let you know you need better strategies to manage pain or you need to be on a waitlist for laparoscopy to have it excised, if it’s affecting you really badly,” said Plican.
She’s one of many ‘desperate’ Canadians seeking endometriosis help abroad. Why they must be careful
Over the past 10 years there have been huge advancements in minimally-invasive gynecological surgery, but women’s health specialists still face barriers.
“We are being empowered by our patients and we are finding our voice, but unfortunately we are playing catch up in a health-care system that has always equated gynecology with obstetrics and hasn’t recognized the power of what we can offer surgically,” said Dr. Liane Belland.
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The Calgary surgeon has helped lead the charge in the field of minimally invasive and complex gynecological surgery. Her clinic can have as many as 700 new patients a year.
“The way that our current surgical time allocation is, there isn’t a priority on gynecologic care, there has never been a priority on gynecologic care,” said Belland.
“It’s difficult to listen to the struggles of people day in and day out — you want to help people and sometimes there are restraints, system restraints, OR waitlists.”
“Ideally you’d love to get everyone in the operating room, of course of you want everybody to afford the medical management you want to offer them, but that’s not the reality,” said Belland.
Nurse ‘forced’ to leave Canada for endometriosis treatment over lack of help
Gynecologist like Dr. Belland admits stigma still can be a barrier preventing patients from reaching out for help in the first place.
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“A lot of people suffer in silence,” said Dr. Ari Sanders, a Calgary-based gynecological surgeon.
“When women are missing school because of pain, or when they are missing work because of bleeding that’s not normal, that should not be happening,” Sanders said.
Specialists said social media and support groups are helping to bring legitimacy to debilitating period pain that’s been brushed off forever as normal — something women just need to put up with.
Women in Calgary attend a support group for endometriosis, PCOS and fibroids in March 2925.
Global News
Laura McDonald started a support group to do just that. They meet on Mondays for tea and often invite health experts to answer questions. But hearing each other’s own personal stories is proving to be therapeutic.
“Endo is very isolating, navigating the medical system is isolating — so just coming together with other women who are experiencing this makes you feel less alone and pretty supported,” said Erin Ramsey, a group member.
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Endometriosis patients hope federal legislation will improve access to necessary medications
The fight to unshackle debilitating periods from societal stigma is growing steam.
Change.org has numerous petitions lobbying for paid period sick days and even support with products. Some believe society as a whole has a role to play-in understanding the severity some face.
“I’m hoping that workplaces, schools things like that will come around a little more to accepting woman are cyclical and we do have to work with those cycles a little more to have optimal health,” said Many LeBlanc, A women’s health practitioner.
” Women should not have to just muscle on and grin and bear it,” said Dr. Belland.
Katie Leaf admits she has had to do it many times, but has found power in her own vulnerability — listening to her body and knowing when it’s ok to just rest.
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She wants others to know they don’t have to suffer in silence alone.
Prince Frederik of Luxembourg died at the age off 22 last month from a rare genetic disorder, his parents Prince Robert and Princess Julie confirmed over the weekend.
The young royal passed away on Feb. 28 after a long battle with PolG, a genetic mitochondrial disease that inhibits the body’s ability to produce energy, and can lead to organ failure among other serious complications, including the deterioration of brain, nerve, liver, intestinal, muscular and eye function.
In a statement posted to the PolG Foundation’s website, a charitable organization founded by the late prince, his parents said Frederik fought “valiantly until the very end.”
“His indomitable lust for life propelled him through the hardest of physical and mental challenges,” it continued, ones that his family says he fought with “grace” and “humour.”
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Frederik was born with the disease but was only diagnosed at 14, when it had developed into a more acute stage and symptoms began to present themselves.
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There are 300 million people with PolG worldwide, many of whom are unaware they have the disorder, as it can be very difficult to diagnose. There is currently no treatment or cure.
“One might compare it to having a faulty battery that never fully recharges, is in a constant state of depletion and eventually loses power,” the statement explained.
Sir Douglas Turnbull, a professor and member of The POLG Foundation Scientific Advisory Board, cited PolG as the worst of all mitochondrial diseases.
“I have looked after literally hundreds of patients with mitochondrial disease and there is little doubt that of all mitochondrial diseases, POLG deficiency is the worst. It is so relentlessly progressive, attacking so many different systems with sadly the same conclusion,” he said.
The statement also credited Frederik’s mother for “working indefatigably” for 15 years to take care of her son and for her ongoing efforts to instill a sense of urgency in the global scientific community to create treatments for the fatal disease.
“Beyond this tireless work, his mother attended, organized, and animated conferences globally to encourage advancement and collaboration in POLG research,” the statement said.
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In the three years since its establishment, the POLG Foundation has funded four major projects totalling over $3.6 million USD, in turn stimulating research activity in the field. It has also partnered with medical organizations around the world to create data collection tools for drug development and clinical trials, and is creating multiple films, including a cartoon series, to educate and spread awareness of the disorder.
The family credits Fredrik for his ability to see “beauty in everything.” During a recent hospital stay, Frederik’s sibling, Alexander, recalls his late brother’s request to take a photograph of the sunset through a small window in the hospital.
“Through the small, mesh-covered window, he saw the Eiffel Tower glistening with its hourly dance of lights,” the statement reads.
Similarly, written on his phone the family found notes that Frederik had written to himself.
“Go outside when the sun is shining,” one said.
“We will strive to follow his instructions, especially now that everything feels a little colder and darker in his absence,” the statement concluded.
Frederik is survived by his brother Alexander, sister Charlotte, and both his parents.
A Pentagon court filing revealing the specifics of the U.S. government’s military enrolment standards says personnel who have been diagnosed with or treated for gender dysphoria will no longer be eligible for service.
The policy was included in legal documents as part of a courtroom challenge against U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban transgender troops from military service.
Similar to the executive order signed in late January, the policy, filed Wednesday, suggests that allowing transgender individuals would undermine the core values of the military.
Trump’s executive order on gender identity worries some Canadians
It also states that gender is “immutable, unchanging during a person’s life,” the AP reports.
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There are two exceptions to the rule outlined in the filing: If a transgender person can prove on a case-by-case basis that they unequivocally support “war-fighting activities” they will be permitted to serve, according to the AP.
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In addition, if an existing service member with gender dysphoria can prove they support a war-fighting need, have never gone through a gender transition, and are stable in their biological sex over a period of 36 months “without clinically significant distress,” they will be permitted to serve.
Transgender rights advocates argue that Trump’s order is an outright ban on their presence in the military.
Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the organization challenging the policy in court, told The Independent that “the ruling made very clear the order was to get rid of all transgender people and not allow them to serve in the military.”
A memo shared with Pentagon leadership on Feb. 26 gave staff 30 days to identify all transgender troops and instructed they be removed by no later than June 25.
Pentagon leadership must “establish procedures and implement steps to identify service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria within 30 days of this memorandum,” it says, adding that trans troops will have the option to voluntarily step down, which would exempt them from having to return any bonuses they may have received prior to the issuing of the memo.
This isn’t the first time Trump has proposed legislation regarding transgender people. In January, he signed an executive order aimed at slashing federal supports for gender transitions for people under the age of 19.
“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” Trump said in a statement.
The order directed federally funded insurance programs, such as Medicaid, to exclude coverage for gender-affirming care and the Department of Justice to clamp down on the practice.
The government’s actions are also being called into question by former military leaders.
Brenda Sue Fulton, who served as a U.S government official and military officer, said on Bluesky on Thursday that “asking trans troops to voluntarily resign is a signal that they [the government] know this isn’t legal.”
“We have fought this before and we’re ready to fight this again …” she wrote in a separate post.
Good news, Canada: In less than a couple of weeks it will be time to set those clocks forward, marking the beginning of daylight saving time (DST) for 2025.
Daylight saving time will begin this year on Sunday, March 9, at 2 a.m. local time. While we might lose an hour of sleep by “springing forward,” it also marks the day when we’ll begin to notice those longer daylight hours.
Canadians in most time zones should set their manual devices ahead an hour on Saturday, March 8 before they head to bed. Smartphones, smartwatches and other digital and Wi-Fi enabled devices, however, will likely automatically adjust while you’re sleeping. (It doesn’t hurt to check them when you wake up on March 9, just to be sure!)
What is daylight saving time?
Daylight saving time is the eight-month-long period between March and November when the majority of the country adjusts their clocks.
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By “springing forward” in March, we allow for more daylight in the spring and summer months. By “falling back” in November, we allow more daylight in the mornings.
Not all Canadians adhere to daylight saving time, however. Yukon, most of Saskatchewan, and some parts of Quebec, Ontario and B.C. stay on standard time all year round.
Trump vows to eliminate ‘inconvenient’ and ‘costly’ Daylight Saving Time
Michael Antle, a psychology professor at the University of Calgary, previously told Global News that during wartime in the early 1900s DST was also used to save energy. By shifting work schedules, employers wouldn’t have to turn on incandescent lights until workers were almost done their shifts.
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“The idea was one, to give us a little bit more leisure time in the evenings when we have really long days in the summers,” he said.
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That’s not needed anymore with various energy-saving lightbulbs, and with fewer needs around having an extra hour in the evening, Antle said more studies are showing the negative impacts of DST.
“You’ve caused your body clock, your circadian clock, to get out of sync with the day-night cycle and your work schedule, and you’re forcing people to get up and go to bed, go to work and go to school an hour earlier than they’re used to.”
Daylight Saving Time: Is it time to ditch changing the clocks?
The benefits of changing our clocks twice per year are controversial, and some argue the shift can have measurable impacts on health.
Sleep researchers in the U.K. have called for the abolishment of DST due to the impact it has on the human body. A study, published in the Journal of Sleep Research last October, found that the beginning of DST each March “can interfere negatively with sleep regulation.”
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Roger Godbout, a clinical psychologist with the Sleep Laboratory at Riviere-des-Prairies Mental Health Hospital in Montreal, told Global News people lose close to an hour of sleep during daylight saving time. He said this is due to being exposed to light later in the day, creating a stimulant effect that can make it harder to fall asleep at night.
He said making the period when the clocks fall back permanent, giving us more light in the morning, would be more beneficial for health and sleep.
“It’s the morning light that is the most important for our equilibrium, mentally and physically,” Godbout said.
Other studies have also shown negative impacts from the yearly switch, including cardiovascular issues.
A 2019 report published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine analyzed seven studies that included more than 100,000 participants. It found that there was an increased risk of heart attack in the weeks following the spring and fall DST transitions.
A 2016 nationwide study in Finland — published in the Sleep Medicine journal — showed that stroke-related hospitalizations increased during the first two days after the switch.
A decade after wellness influencer Belle Gibson admitted she didn’t have terminal brain cancer, which she claimed was cured by the healthy lifestyle that made her famous, her story has inspired a new Netflix series — and fresh outrage in Australia about the case’s lack of resolution.
Authorities said this week they’re still pursuing the disgraced Instagram star for unpaid fines, fueling ongoing ire among Australians about one of the country’s most brazen online scams — an episode that drew attention to the destructive harms of false health claims on social media.
Apple Cider Vinegar, a dramatic retelling of Gibson’s story released this month, doesn’t recount what happened after it was revealed in 2015 that she wasn’t sick. In real life, she never faced criminal charges.
But in 2017, Australia’s federal court fined her 410,000 Australian dollars ($261,000), which she had raised for charity and failed to donate. The consumer watchdog in the state of Victoria is still trying to recover the funds, a spokesperson told The Associated Press.
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What was Belle Gibson charged with?
Gibson’s healthy recipe app, The Whole Pantry, had 200,000 downloads in one month from the Apple store in 2013. She claimed proceeds from the app and her cookbook — published by a Penguin imprint — would be donated to charities and to the family of a child with cancer.
Only two per cent of the total was donated and Gibson was found to have breached consumer law. A court ordered her to produce the remaining funds and barred her from making health claims.
In a letter to the court, Gibson said she was in debt, didn’t have a job and couldn’t pay the costs.
“Consumer Affairs Victoria has continued to undertake actions to enforce the debt owed by Annabelle Natalie Gibson (Belle Gibson) under court order,” said a statement from the agency that was supplied on Wednesday.
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The statement did not say if any of the money has been recovered. Authorities have raided Gibson’s home twice in attempts to seize assets, but they didn’t publicly divulge an outcome.
Woman charged with fraud after allegedly claiming she had cancer
The AP tried to reach Gibson for comment but didn’t receive a response. She hasn’t spoken publicly in years and wasn’t involved with, or paid by, the creators of the Netflix show.
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Jacinta Allan, the premier of Victoria, said this month she was “disappointed” the case remains unresolved. But the authorities “won’t let up,” Allan told reporters.
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Journalist Richard Guilliatt, who in 2015 was the first to report that Gibson was lying, said the lack of legal consequences still fuels “vitriol” toward the erstwhile influencer.
“The thing remains sort of like an open wound,” he said. “What she has suffered is just incredible public humiliation. There’s a part of me that thinks people are just going to have to let it go at some point.”
Gibson’s book publisher paid a $30,000 ($19,000 US) fine in the civil case for failing to fact-check her claims.
While Gibson hasn’t faced more charges, her case had other repercussions. Australia’s code governing therapeutic health claims was dramatically overhauled in 2022 and breaches can now be punished by millions of dollars in fines — changes some analysts attribute in part to Gibson’s conduct.
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Paid testimonials for such goods are now prohibited, and anyone claiming health expertise cannot endorse them.
“This would have applied to the therapeutic claims that Belle made,” said Suzy Madar, a Sydney-based partner at the law firm King & Wood Mallesons.
Calgary woman who faked cancer will see jail time
How have Australians responded to the series?
Apple Cider Vinegar has drawn praise for its skewering of online wellness culture — and criticism from Australians involved in the real-life events it recounts. The series is billed as a “true-ish story, based on a lie,” and Gibson is the only real person the show purports to depict.
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But Queensland man Col Ainscough, whose wife and daughter — also a wellness influencer — both died of cancer decried the production in a statement this month, because its characters included a family with a different name whose story appeared to parallel his own.
The show was “insensitive and clearly profit-driven,” Ainscough said.
“Behind the TV stories, behind the dramatization, are real people who have had their lives devastated by the actions of this individual,” Allan, the state premier, told reporters.
But the case still holds fascination as one of Australia’s most “bizarre and flagrant” online scams, reporter Guilliatt said.
“I like to think that it really was a wake-up call for a lot of people,” he said. “I hope it’s had an impact in terms of people’s gullibility about accepting advice on very serious health conditions online.”
DUNEDIN – Baseball is top of mind for the Toronto Blue Jays as they prepare for their pre-season opener on Saturday, but the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament has generated plenty of interest in the team’s clubhouse.
The MLB Network is the usual go-to option on the big screens around the team’s player development complex.
That changed Monday afternoon as the Canada-Finland game was on the clubhouse monitors after the athletes finished their morning workouts. Several players planned to get together Thursday night to watch the Canada-U.S. final.
“I think it’s probably the first hockey game that I’ve ever been excited for,” said Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette. “I’ll turn it on for sure.”
The booing of the national anthems in sports venues on both sides of the border has been a talking point in recent weeks. Canada-U.S. tension continues to simmer due to the heightened political drama with President Donald Trump’s return to office. Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada should become a U.S. state and has threatened to apply punishing tariffs to Canadian imports.
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The Blue Jays, who train in Dunedin, Fla., a short drive from the Gulf of Mexico – or as the current U.S. administration prefers, the Gulf of America – have not noticed any anti-Canadian sentiment since their return for camp.
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“It may be a little bit different when games start obviously,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said at the start of camp. “Everyone has got their opinions and rightfully so, but (I) haven’t really seen anything thus far … hopefully it’s not too much of a distraction.”
The subject of Canada-U.S. relations also came up in a recent media availability with general manager Ross Atkins.
“That’s definitely one I don’t want to get into,” he said. “I will say that I’m very happy living in Toronto. I love everything about it. I’m so glad to be raising my daughters there. It’s an incredible place to live.”
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Hockey is not a needle-mover among many of the players on the roster. Baseball is king of course, with football, basketball, auto racing and golf some of the more preferred sports.
There are a few big hockey fans in the clubhouse though.
Outfielder George Springer was a Hartford Whalers fan and can often be seen sporting their gear. Reliever Erik Swanson is a supporter of the Winnipeg Jets.
“Right now I’m rooting for Helle in the 4 Nations,” Swanson said, using the nickname for Jets and U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck. “Not a lot of people I’m sure are happy to hear me say that. But (it’s) going to be a fun game.
“I know (pitcher Chris Bassitt) and I have been going back (and forth) with some former Canadian teammates that used to be here (and) we’ve got some buddies up in Toronto. There’s been some friendly banter back and forth.”
The Blue Jays will kick off their pre-season schedule at home against the New York Yankees. Toronto will open the regular season on March 27 against the visiting Baltimore Orioles.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2025.
A man in north Edmonton just received a letter mailed to him in August of 1999.
“The universe and Canada Post work in mysterious ways,” Warren Wuschenny said on Friday at his home in north Edmonton, where the long-delayed mail arrived this week.
“Who knows what happened to this letter?”
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It was sent to Wuschenny by his cousin Shannon Shade, who at the time lived in Nanaimo, B.C. Shade remembers it well.
“I get slack for not sending cards to family a lot — clearly I do send them. They just need to be more patient!” she joked from Calgary, where she now lives.
The letter, complete with a 46-cent stamp, was finally delivered on Feb. 12, 2025.
Canada Post says if the mail did not come with a service letter, that it was likely discovered and re-entered the mail system.
“Our operations teams have seen occasions when customers find mail tucked away or ‘lost’ in a house they’ve just moved into, so the customer will put it back in the mailstream,” the Crown corporation said in a statement to Global News.
Noah Rishaug has the story in the video player above.
Meghan Markle is back home in California after a few whirlwind days at the Invictus Games in B.C. and she brought back some sweet and quintessentially Canadian edible souvenirs for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to enjoy.
Markle, who returned to Instagram in early 2025 after a five-year hiatus, shared a snap of a kid-friendly spread of food to her story Wednesday, including a small box of Tim Hortons Timbits, what appears to be fudge in the shape of mountain peaks and chunky chocolate and cashew bear claws.
“A taste of Canada and The Invictus Games for our little ones! Cheering you on from home!” the Duchess of Sussex captioned the post.
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Also spotted in the photo was an Invictus Games logo macaron, a crocheted Yeti and some personalized green jerseys, featuring the kids’ names, given to Markle and husband Prince Harry from Team Nigeria during a USA vs. Nigeria wheelchair basketball game.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex poses with a member of Team Nigeria at the USA vs. Nigeria Wheelchair Basketball Pool Play at Vancouver Convention Centre on Feb. 9, 2025 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Eric Charbonneau/Invictus Games Foundation via Getty Images
Nigerian team manager Derrick Cobbinah told People that the duchess was thrilled to accept the custom gift. “We did one for him and one for M and for the kids,” he told the outlet. “They said they would be excited to have them. She was very, very excited.”
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Markle has made her way back home to Montecito, Calif., to be with her kids while Harry stays in Canada to show his support for the Invictus athletes and their families.
Markle’s been using her Instagram account to promote her husband’s passion project, an adaptive sports competition for injured service member and veterans, which he founded in 2014.
“Let the games begin! Get ready for a week of heart, hope, and heroes in action,” she captioned a reel earlier this week, kicking off the start of the 2025 Invictus Games. “Join us in cheering loudly and proudly to show just how much these competitors and their families mean to us.”
The Invictus Games are being held until Feb. 16, with competitors from 23 countries taking part.
It will be Canada’s second time hosting the event — after Toronto in 2017 — but it is the first Invictus Games involving winter adaptive sports such as alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Whistler Welcome Celebration at the 2025 Invictus Games in Whistler on Feb. 10, 2025.
Aaron Chown / PA Images via Getty Images
“For these individuals, for the challenges they have overcome, to be amongst team members again … wearing their flag on their chest or on their arm, coming out into a stadium full of tens of thousands of people cheering for them,” Prince Harry told a crowd in Vancouver last November. “You need to understand what that means to them, because that can be a life-altering moment.”
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How many times have you left a date with that special tingly feeling in your gut?
The one that screams out, “Hoo-boy, what a waste of money!”
Well, new findings suggest you’re not alone in feeling the pinch when it comes to the cost of modern dating.
Canadians gearing up to find a lasting partner ahead of Valentine’s Day will have to be prepared to shell out thousands of dollars to woo their beau, according to findings from a new Bank of Montreal survey published Thursday.
Canadians, on average, are spending $173 per date, the survey of some 2,500 adults found. That includes the costs of transportation, food, drinks, tickets, grooming and clothing for the occasion.
And with an average of 10 to 21 dates before Canadians commit to a partner, the BMO survey suggested that those looking for love should be ready to spend up to $3,621 before making the relationship official.
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If that sounds a bit, well, exorbitant, the survey found many daters feel similarly.
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Roughly two in five (41 per cent) single respondents to the survey said they’ve left a first date feeling it was a waste of time and money. A similar proportion (38 per cent) have said that dating costs affect their ability to reach other financial goals.
With those sour tastes in their mouths, some Canadians have been turned off of dating at all. BMO’s survey says that while single respondents have been on an average of three dates in the past 12 months, some 55 per cent said they hadn’t been on any dates in the past year.
Roughly three in five Canadians say they’re not willing to pay an app or matchmaker to help them find a partner; among those who are open to spending on service, they’d pay up to $16 per year.
The plagues of modern dating coincide with a turbulent economic backdrop, BMO noted.
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While inflation has cooled and interest rates have dropped in recent years, those financial anxieties have staying power, particularly amid threats of a trade war with the United States.
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Concerns about the cost of living (56 per cent) and a possible recession (48 per cent) have increased in the past three months, according to BMO’s real financial progress index.
BMO senior economist Sal Guatieri noted in a statement that consumer costs are still higher than they were four years ago, with the cost of dining out roughly 22 per cent higher.
“Although wages are also rising and borrowing costs are coming down, many Canadians continue to struggle with the high cost of living, forcing some to cut back on discretionary expenditures such as dating,” he said.
