Official Google Canada Blog

Speaking our language: The importance of a Mandarin Pixel 6 ad with Simu Liu

Friday, January 21, 2022

Language is one of the most universal experiences we share— but, sometimes it becomes a frustrating barrier. With the help of technology, people should be able to overcome language barriers and connect with the world around them in new and meaningful ways. That was what we set out to do in our latest Google Pixel 6 ad campaign with a little help from our friend and Canadian Pixel Ambassador Simu Liu. Beginning January 24th, you’ll see a brand new 30-second ad spot centred around the Pixel 6 - and it will be delivered entirely in Mandarin. Simu, who speaks fluent Mandarin, used his talents to show off what’s possible with one of the phone’s most helpful features, Live Translate.
“In my conversations with the Google team, they really encouraged me to spearhead the creative thinking and direction in how we would introduce the Pixel 6 to Canadians,” says Liu. “I was able to involve my parents in the commercial to highlight the Live Translate function, which allows you to translate between over 46 different languages. I think it’s a great tool for immigrant families to communicate with people.”
The new video, which Simu recently shared on Instagram, demonstrates the capabilities and powerful potential of Interpreter Mode in Live Translate. Simu’s unparalleled charm and personality shine through as he tries to live up to his parents’ expectations, and soon everyone is using Live Translate to get their message across. Mandarin is the third-most spoken language Canadians use in their homes, right behind English and French. By producing an ad spoken almost entirely in Mandarin, we hope Canadians will try to unlock communication simply using their phones.
“Simu has been an engaged partner throughout this process. In continuing this relationship, we wanted him to inject his personality and heritage into the project in an authentic way, “ says Andrew Rapsey, Head of Product Marketing and Brand Partnerships with Google Canada. “We want to continue to demonstrate how Pixel features like Live Translate can help connect Canadians in ways they never thought were possible. Why not double down on that commitment with a national commercial shot entirely in Mandarin?”
Interpreter Mode on Pixel 6 provides smart, simple translation of in-person conversations directly on the device. By simply prompting Google Assistant and asking it to “Be My Interpreter”, the Pixel 6 will take turns translating what is said based on the languages that are selected. This is just one of the many Live Translate features included on Pixel, which features best-in-class speed and accuracy thanks to the strides we continue to make in machine learning and the Google Tensor chip.
Live Translate also automatically detects if a message in your chat apps is different from your system language, and offers the option to automatically translate, all right on the device. Live Caption Translate takes speech to text and uses our dedicated translation model to convert that text into select languages. Users can also use Google Lens to detect and translate text on signs or menus. Whether you’re having a full conversation with a relative in their native language, or interpreting the menu at a new restaurant, Live Translate on Pixel 6 makes the process seamless.
The new Mandarin ad campaign starring Simu will go live on January 24th. Canadians can expect to see the ads on select English-language broadcast and digital outlets, and will air alongside our recently-announced French-language ad with Canadian Tennis Star Leylah Fernandez. The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are now available on the Google Store.

Canadian Tennis Star Leylah Fernandez joins #TeamPixel

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

U.S. Open finalist will be the face of Pixel 6 for French-speaking Canada

Google Canada is thrilled to announce that Canadian Tennis player and Grand Slam finalist Leylah Fernandez has been named the latest Canadian ambassador for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
Fernandez, currently the top-ranked Canadian in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), rose to international recognition after appearing in the final of the 2021 U.S. Open. This led her to being our top-trending Canadian athlete in the country last year. Now the Montreal native will be featured in a new national English and French-speaking ad campaign, which she unveiled on her Instagram account today. The ad features Fernandez utilizing the capabilities of the Pixel’s Live Translate feature, a perfect fit for the WTA pro, who is already fluent in English, French and Spanish. In addition to the ad campaign, Leylah will also be sharing her journey with her Pixel 6 on her social media channels.
“I travel a lot throughout the season, so I need a phone that’s going to help me manage my busy schedule and have fun at the same time.” says Fernandez. “After using the Pixel 6 Pro for a couple months, I’m thrilled about how easily it fits into my lifestyle and I can’t wait to show other Canadians what it can do.”
After making her professional debut in 2019, Fernandez had her breakout year in 2021, with her first tour win at the Monterrey Open and her aforementioned appearance in the U.S. Open. Just weeks ago, she was named the Canadian Press’ Female Athlete of the Year. Days away from competing in this year’s Australian Open, Fernandez will be able to document her season with the Pixel 6 Pro, taking advantage of our most ‘Google’ phone yet, both inside and out.
“After her incredible year on the women’s tennis circuit, and how she won the hearts of the Canadians with her grit and grace, it was an easy decision to partner Leylah as a spokesperson for the Pixel 6,” says Laura Pearce, Head of Marketing, Google Canada. "The Pixel provides all the helpfulness of Google for consumers to see, experience and do more - and that's exactly what we expect Leylah to do as she takes the tennis world by storm.”
The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro feature Google’s first System on a Chip (SoC), Google Tensor, which unlocks the full potential of the phone’s camera system, Android user interface and AI that Google is known for. Google Tensor allows the Pixel 6 to adapt to each individual user to provide a bespoke experience that, at its heart, performs fast and reliably in everyday use. Featuring a best-in-class camera with new experiences like low-light video and Magic Eraser, Pixel 6 allows users to share special moments exactly how they remember them. Inclusive features like Live Translate combine Pixel’s speech recognition with Google’s translation capabilities to help users to communicate in languages other than their own across a number of applications1.
Leylah Fernandez’ English Pixel 6 ad spot is now live online with the French version of the ad spot going live when the Australian Open gets underway on January 17. The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are now available on the Google Store.

Posted by Google Canada

Our third GNI Startups Boot Camp will support 16 Canadian news entrepreneurs

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Editor's Note: This blogpost is cross posted from the Lion Publisher's website.These aspiring journalism publishers will serve communities from Nova Scotia to Vancouver

From upper left: Shauna Rae, Jordan Maxwell, Ashleigh-Rae Thomas, Flavian DeLima, Yona Harvey, Camila Castaneda, Charles Mandel, Ayesha Ghaffar, Seyedmostafa Raziei, Sandra Hannebohm, Cara Fox and Kelly-Anne Riess
For the past two years, our GNI Startups Boot Camp has helped nearly 50 founders launch independent new businesses across the U.S. and Canada. But as we supported those aspiring entrepreneurs to validate and execute their ideas, we kept coming back to one question: the Canadian news landscape has some of its own unique challenges and opportunities. Why not create a program specifically to serve this burgeoning ecosystem?

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce, in partnership with the Google News Initiative, the inaugural cohort for our GNI Startups Boot Camp Canada.

These 16 startups will embark on an intensive eight-week program that includes the training and coaching that will help them launch sustainably and meet their communities’ information needs.

“We’re looking forward to working with this passionate, diverse and all-Canadian cohort of emerging news entrepreneurs, and supporting them on their path to launching an independent news business,” said Andrew Wicken, Head of News Partnerships at Google Canada. “The curriculum has been adapted specifically to address the realities of operating in Canada and supports our mission of helping to build a thriving, diverse and innovative Canadian news ecosystem. We’ve seen how this program can accelerate their progress, build connections and community, and set them on a path to sustainability.”

The cohort members were selected by an independent panel of judges based on their compelling ideas, potential to make a strong impact and commitment to making their publications financially sustainable. They’ll be guided by the following team of exceptional industry experts:

Boot Camp Co-Producer (and 2020 Boot Camp graduate!) Eva Voinigescu is a freelance journalist and audio producer based in Toronto. She currently produces the Energy vs Climate podcast.
Boot Camp Coach Natasha Grzincic (Gur-zin-sitch) is the deputy editor at VICE Canada and the force behind Tipping Point, VICE’s series on environmental justice. She’s also a co-founder of Canadian Journalists of Colour, “a networking and resource-sharing group for racialized journalists that’s now over 1,300 strong.”
Boot Camp Coach Hannah Sung is a journalist and co-founder of Media Girlfriends, a podcast production company focused on inclusivity in media. She also writes the newsletter At The End Of the Day.
Boot Camp Director Phillip Smith is a veteran consultant and coach. His passion is helping newsrooms to make more money, helping news startups grow their audience, and helping journalists succeed as entrepreneurs. The boot camp curriculum was developed during his time as a John S. Knight fellow at Stanford University.

“As someone born in Toronto General Hospital, who spent childhood summers with family in Quebec and Nova Scotia, as well as having spent a decade working in a startup newsroom in Vancouver, the opportunity to make the Boot Camp available to fellow Canadians is a real honour,” Smith said. “The individuals in this cohort are determined and their initiatives are very exciting — I can’t wait to get started.”

About the 2021 cohort:

10 publications will focus on a local or regional audience; 6 will focus on a demographic or identity-based audience
14 publications will explicitly serve an underrepresented or marginalized audience that doesn’t often see itself reflected in the media
56% of participants identify as a person of colour or as coming from an underrepresented or marginalized background
The publications will serve audiences in 7 Canadian provinces/territories
14 publications will be run by solopreneurs; 2 will operate as teams of two
10 publications haven’t launched yet; 6 are in the process of testing their idea or have very recently launched

Meet the 16 teams in the cohort:

*There are three additional startups not listed below that are remaining in stealth mode for now.
Clearing a New Path Serving: Dorchester, Ontario Description: Amplifying the underrepresented voices of women entrepreneurs in rural Canada Founder: Shauna Rae

From a Coloured Lens Serving: Vancouver, British Columbia Description: A podcast designed by and for BIPOC people, allowing them to share how mainstream issues impact their communities Founder: Ayesha Ghaffar

Latitodo Serving: Vancouver, British Columbia Description: A publication focused on the Latinx diaspora, specifically young adults who are interested in connecting with their heritage whilst adapting to life in Canada. Founder: Camila Castaneda

Island Edition Serving: Prince Edward Island Description: An independent journalism platform to report in-depth on the issues affecting Prince Edward Island, and to share the stories and experiences of the people living in Canada’s smallest province.

Mabuhay Canada Serving: Belleville, Ontario Description: Mabuhay Canada is a one-stop website featuring news, local and international Filipino newsmakers, services, shopping, travel and immigration needs for Filipinos living in Canada Founder: Yona Harvey

Mostafa Serving: Vancouver, British Columbia Description: Online new media focused on bringing newcomer and immigrant points of view to a greater audience Founder: Seyedmostafa Raziei

North Star Press Serving: Toronto, Ontario Description: A magazine/online paper for Black leftists, named North Star Press after Frederick Douglass’ anti slavery newspaper Founder: Ashleigh-Rae Thomas

Parles-on

Serving: Montreal, Quebec Description: A bilingual podcast about current events in Canada and beyond Founder: Cara Fox

South Shore Lines Serving: Nova Scotia’s South Shore Description: A rural, alternative digital magazine focused on news, arts, culture, and more for Nova Scotia’s South Shore Founder: Charles Mandel

Spinning Forward Serving: Toronto, Ontario Description: Collectively and collaboratively, we want to build and grow a more inclusive and strong online BIPOC creator community in Toronto on their own terms Founder: Flavian DeLima

The Flatlander Serving: Regina, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, Manitoba Description: An email newsletter about important issues that impact Manitoba and Saskatchewan Founder: Kelly-Anne Riess

To Be Announced Serving: Toronto, Ontario Description: To be announced Founder: Jordan Maxwell

Twice as Good Media (2G) Serving: Halifax, Nova Scotia Description: A hub for compelling narratives and black talent in media Founder: Sandra Hannebohm

The GNI and LION would like to thank our panel of judges who were instrumental in selecting the cohort. They are: Gina Uppal from the On Canada Project, Colleen Kimmett from the Google News Initiative, Adam Chen from Talk Media, Jordan MacInnis from Journalists for Human Rights, Nkem Kalu from The Northpine Foundation, Julie Sobowale from the Canadian Association of Black Journalists, Sadiya Ansari from Canadian Journalists of Colour and Samanta Krishnapillai from the On Canada Project.

20 years of Google in Canada

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Twenty years later, the world has changed, online and off. The Harry Potter crew are no longer children and we’ve moved from Nickelback to The Weeknd. The hit musical Come from Away is returning to the stage to remind us that human connection and kindness still define us as Canadians. And wow, can we ever take a high quality photo with our new cell phones (especially with the Pixel, naturally).
Google Canada has changed, too. This month marks the 20th anniversary of Google’s arrival in Canada. And if you don’t remember the pomp and circumstance around the event, it’s because there wasn’t any.
Google Canada began with a single hire in a small workspace in Toronto in 2001 and a few short years later, Google opened its Montréal office. In 2005, Google set up shop in Canada’s technology hub, Waterloo, Ontario, and over the years we have become a part of the Waterloo region technology community, contributing volunteer hours to STEM education programs and hiring engineers to build Google products that Canadians and people around the world use every day. And now, Google Canada is home to more than 2,500 employees.
We’ve had our share of adventures - bringing maps to the north, helping Canadian businesses tap into the digital economy, opening Cloud regions in Montréal and Toronto to serve Canadian businesses, introducing the world to Canadian creators on YouTube and building new offices in Waterloo, Toronto and Montréal. For the past twenty years, we’ve been fortunate enough to help Canadians search, grow and connect to the world around them using Google products and services.
Creating opportunity for all Canadians During our time here, Google Canada has been investing in the communities where we live and work, through Google.org Community Grants, Google for Startups Accelerator programs, and investments in digital skills training. Over the last 20 years, Google has invested $25 million in Canadian non profits, looking to expand economic opportunity and to help Canadians learn new skills, through commitments to organizations like NPower Canada and ComIT.
And we have a long history of working closely with community partners and organizations across Canada to make STEM programs accessible to all students. In 2021, we reached more than 200,000 Canadian learners through STEM outreach and we trained approximately 4,000 educators in CS First. Our STEM and CS First outreach is orchestrated by Google Canada in conjunction with The Cobblestone Collective and supplemented by our Google Canada volunteers to support their local communities.
A home for Canadian engineering excellence
Canada has been synonymous with top notch computer science and engineering for more than 50 years. And most recently, AI research and advancement. It’s for this reason that in 2013 Google welcomed Geoffrey Hinton, a pioneer in the field of deep learning, to the Google Toronto office. And in 2016, Google Research started a Canadian centre of AI excellence by bringing Google Brain to Montréal. Google Brain is a deep learning artificial intelligence research team dedicated to artificial intelligence and every day, these world-leading teams tackle some of the biggest technological challenges of our time.
Google Canada engineers have conceived of, developed, and implemented innovative products that many Canadians might take for granted:

Providing platforms for Canadian success stories: For over 20 years, Google has helped Canadian businesses of all sizes use our digital tools to grow and reach customers across the globe. Before COVID-19, making the transition to digital was aspirational for most business owners. When the pandemic upended all of our lives, it became essential. To better understand how Google products helped Canadian workers and businesses in 2020, Google commissioned independent consultancy Public First to take a look and they found that Google’s search and advertising tools helped provide an estimated $26 billion in economic activity for over 600,000 businesses in Canada. And in 2020 alone, the total economic impact of Google products and services in Canada is equivalent to 1.3% of total GDP, or the equivalent of supporting 235,000 jobs.
And YouTube has facilitated the rise of the Canadian creator economy, helping content creators build sustainable businesses on the platform. A report by Oxford Economics estimates that in 2020, YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed approximately $923 million to Canada’s GDP. In that same period YouTube supported the equivalent of 34,100 full-time employment jobs across Canada. Access to YouTube’s open platform continues to create a real and positive impact on the wider Canadian economy, and we can’t wait to watch the next generation of Canadian creators grow, create and connect on the platform.
This month, Google Canada is officially 20 years old and more than 2,500 Googlers strong. We’re working, living, and growing in communities across this country. We’re delivering innovations that are helping people through the toughest times of their lives. And we’re doing all of that as we stay committed to the same goal we were founded on: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
It only seems fitting that to celebrate the past 20 years, we take a look back at the most interesting searches over these two decades, to reflect back what Canadians have been curious about. And it turns out, what we’re most curious about is us. At its heart, Google is a place for people to ask questions – about ourselves, current events, and the world we are striving to create. So, after 20 years of Googling, we just wanted to say to all Canadians: thanks for asking.
Here’s to everything that comes next.
Posted by Google Canada

Our $600,000 commitment to reskill Indigenous job seekers for new careers in technology

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Research shows

That’s why today, Google Canada announced a $600,000 commitment to provide free digital skills training to Indigenous job seekers across Canada. The support includes a $500,000 Google.org grant towards ComIT’s Recoding Futures IT training program, an additional $100,000 in funding to support Indspire with their education and job training programs and an allocation of Google Career Certificate scholarships for Indigenous job seekers.

ComIT’s Recoding Futures program was created last year with the support of Google.org to provide IT training to Indigenous learners across Canada. In the first year of the Recoding Futures program, we saw overwhelming interest, with over 800 applicants, double than what was expected. Our additional support of the program moving forwards will allow ComIT to expand the program and accommodate as many applicants as possible. The program runs virtually and covers topics like Design Thinking, HTML, CSS, Javascript .NET, Python, React and Node.

Google Canada’s $100,000 commitment to Indspire will support their existing job training programs, and we will also provide an allocation of dedicated Google Career Certificate scholarships for Indigenous job seekers. The scholarships can be used towards Google Career Certificate courses, which are delivered through NPower Canada and equips learners with theoretical and practical knowledge to be successful in an entry-level technology job.

Applications are now open for ComIT’s Recoding Futures program. Interested applicants can visit ComIT.org to register.

For more information on Google Career Certificates visit g.co/certificates-canada. To find out more on scholarships available, visit Indspire’s website.

Today’s support is in addition to Google Canada’s $2 million commitment to reskill job seekers for new careers in technology in under six months, announced earlier this year. We look forward to working alongside ComIT and Indspire to help bridge the longstanding digital divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, increase free access to digital skills education and support economic growth within Indigenous communities.

Posted by Sabrina Geremia, VP and Country Manager, Google Canada

You Can’t Stop The Beat - Apple Music now available on Nest Devices in Canada

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Apple Music subscribers can search and play songs, albums and playlists just by using their voice. Not sure what you want to listen to? You can also use your Google Assistant to play music by genre, mood or activity.
To set up Apple Music on your device, first link your Apple Music account in the Google Home app. After it is set up, you can easily queue up your favorite playlist, artist, or any of the award-winning Apple Music Radio stations live streaming today’s hits, classics, and country to play over your connected device.
Users also have the ability to set Apple Music as your default music streaming service in the Google Home App for a seamless integration and playback experience.
With Apple Music now available on Nest devices such as Nest Mini, Nest Audio, Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max, Apple Music subscribers now have more choices when it comes to where they can utilize their Apple Music service.
Australia, Canada, India, S. Korea and Mexico are the latest regions to offer Apple Music on compatible devices. Last year, Apple Music began rolling out on Nest and other Assistant-enabled smart speakers and displays in the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan.

A look back at Canada’s #YearInSearch: 2021

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

In 2021, Canadians searched for how to recover, and ways to come back stronger.We searched for “COVID vaccine near me”, “vaccine passport” and “What percentage of Canada is vaccinated?”. We looked inward and tried to better understand Canada's history when we searched for Residential schools, and asked “Why were they created?”. We were engaged voters, searching for “Federal Election” and “How to register to vote in Canada”. And from local to global, Canadians searched for ongoing current events to find information and answers. Canada's 2021 Year in Search:

Top Searches in Sports

With the return of live sporting events in 2021, it's no surprise that top searches were for NBA and NHL. We found ways to re-connect through games, as we searched and celebrated Canadian athletes like Leylah Fernandez, Andre De Grasse, Penny Oleksiak, and so many other local heroes.

Top Searches in Entertainment

Like last year, people continued to search for ways to stay connected and entertained at home. The South Korean success, Squid Game, was the most searched TV show, while also appearing on several other lists this year. Canadians also came out in full force to search and support Simu Liu as this year's superhero in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

This December also marks 20 years of Google in Canada . We took a look back at the top searches over 20 years, and found that the most searched topic in Canada is, well, Canada. While on the surface this is pretty funny, there is something very special about a country in search of itself. We searched “What it means to be Canadian,” “How to immigrate to Canada,” and “What native land am I on?” Canadians continue to question, research and understand how we can be the best version of ourselves. Looking back, we at Google are so proud to be a small part of the lives of Canadians - businesses that come to the platform to grow their business, new Canadians that use Translate for day-to-day interactions, or parents trying to understand what their kids mean when they keep saying “YOLO”.