“Ok Google, good morning.”

There’s never a dull moment at home -- from getting the family ready to go in the morning to kicking back after a long day, and everything in between. Wouldn’t it be great to get some extra help? 

Starting today, Canadians can get their hands on Google Home, our voice-activated smart speaker, powered by the Google Assistant in English and French.
With a simple “Ok Google”, you can get results from Google Search, turn up the music, manage your everyday tasks or even adjust your compatible smart lights.

Help from your Google Assistant 
Need to solve a problem? Ask Google Home to translate phrases, do simple math calculations, or share definitions. Want some help in the kitchen? Ask to get nutritional information and unit conversions with flour-covered hands. Too busy to stay on top of the news? Ask and you shall receive the latest Canadian stories from sources such as the CBC, Radio Canada, Global News, Sportsnet, TC Media, The Weather Network / MétéoMédia and more.

Your Assistant can also have fun—it can tell you jokes, play trivia or make animal sounds. Ever wanted to know what a whale sounds like? Now’s your chance to find out.

Enjoy your music
Find the right beat for every occasion, from practicing yoga to hosting a dance-a-thon with your little ones. The Assistant on Google Home lets you enjoy your favourite tunes. Simply say “Ok Google” and you can play songs, playlists, artists and albums from Google Play Music, Spotify, and more.* 

Manage your everyday tasks
Canadians are busy -- and the Assistant on Google Home is now here to help. With your permission, it will give you answers for things like your commute, your daily schedule and more. Just ask “Ok Google, tell me about my day” or say, “Hey Google, how long will it take to get to work?” and you’ll get up to speed on everything you need to know.

Google Home is there to give you an assist around the house, too. All you have to do is ask and it will wake you up in the morning (or let you snooze), set a timer while you’re baking, and more.

Control your smart home 
You can control your lights and switches in your home using compatible smart devices from brands like Nest, Philips, Samsung SmartThings and more.** Just ask, and Google Home will turn off the kitchen light.

If you have a Chromecast, you can also use voice commands to play Netflix and YouTube on your TV or binge watch your favourite show. Simply say, “Ok Google, play ‘Stranger Things’”.***

A speaker designed for any room
Whether you’re hosting a dinner or a solo dance party, Google Home delivers crystal-clear sound, giving you an enjoyable listening experience across all types of music. Plus, we designed Google Home to fit stylishly into any room. And you have the option to customize your Google Home with a choice of interchangeable metallic bases, available in Copper or Carbon.

We know Canadians have been patiently waiting for Google Home to arrive, and we’re working to bring the Assistant to Canadians in English and, for the first time ever, in French. Your Google Home experience will get better over time, as we add more features, partners and more. And of course, we’ve hidden a few Canadian treats for you to discover along the way. Why not try asking your Assistant on Google Home about some of its favourite foods or sports teams?

Google Home is available starting on June 26th from the Google Store, Bell, Best Buy, Fido, Indigo, London Drugs, Rogers, Staples, The Source, Telus, Visions, and Walmart.

Posted by Micah Collins, Google Home Group Product Manager 

*Google Home is optimized for selected music services only. Subscriptions may be required and additional terms, conditions and/or charges may apply. 

**Controlling certain devices and features in your home requires a compatible smart device. Availability and performance of certain features and services are service, device and network-dependent and may not be available in all areas. 

***Chromecast sold separately. Google Home requires a Wi-Fi network, a nearby electrical outlet, and a compatible (Android, iOS) mobile device. Minimum OS requirements are available at g.co/home/req.

In this year’s Doodle 4 Google contest, more than 12,000 students from across the country submitted doodles around the theme “What I see for Canada’s future is…”. Young artists imagined a country where robots could cure disease, others dreamed of living on Mars, while some saw a world united by nature.

Following a very close public vote, where Canadians voted more than 400,000 times, we revealed our four incredibly talented grade group winners at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Of those four masterpieces, 11th-grader Jana Sofia Panem’s Doodle, "A Bright Future" was selected as the national winner!

On June 14th, Canadians can enjoy Jana’s masterpiece on the Google.ca homepage. Google Canada is also honoured to award her with a $10,000 university scholarship and a $10,000 technology award for her school.

Plus, Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown of YouTube’s AsapSCIENCE shared a surprise award -- as part of her prize, Jana will get to join them in their studio and help draw their next video! This will be an especially lovely treat for Jana, who has a YouTube channel of her own where she shares her animations. 

In her energetic doodle, Jana sees “that wind power will be an alternative energy source for Canada's future. I believe we will have enough energy to generate power for our everyday lives such as electricity, transportation, and the internet. This transformation will greatly benefit our future generation as it will help to maximize preserving our vital nature and maintain a clean environment.” 


All the entries were evaluated on the criteria of artistic merit, creativity and theme representation. This year’s jury, YouTube stars Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown of AsapSCIENCE, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, En Masse co-founder Jason Botkin, president of the National Inuit Youth Council Maatalii Okalik, Google Doodler Sophie Diao, and Stephan Jost, Art Director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario, had a mammoth task at hand -- selecting the top grade group winners from across the nation. And here they are:






Thank you to all those who submitted and to our finalists for sharing your creativity and imagination with us. Let’s wish our national winner, Jana Sofia Panem, another heartfelt congratulations. Her doodle shared a vision of our future that we're proud to share with all Canadians.

Keep on doodling!

YouTube is not TV. It never will be. People don’t come to YouTube for polish, they come to YouTube for texture. They come to YouTube to see the world as it truly is, filled with people just like themselves. They come to be entertained and they come to learn.They come to witness our shared humanity. And they come back day after day.

Every minute, 400 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube. And every day, people watch one billion hours of videos on YouTube. That tremendous volume is echoed here in Canada, where watchtime on YouTube has grown 30% versus last year.

This week we hosted 700 of Canada’s top advertisers and agencies for our annual YouTube Pulse event. Because of the tremendous engagement of its fanbase, YouTube offers marketers something different from other mass media platforms.


 And as more people are watching more content across more devices, one of the YouTube offers marketers is attentive reach. When people are watching YouTube, they are engaged. They’re not just watching, they are commenting, watching related videos and sharing. According to recent Ipsos eye-tracking research in the U.S., attention to paid video advertising on YouTube's mobile app is 84% higher than on TV and 1.8X higher than on other social media platforms.


YouTube Pulse also gave Canadian advertisers a glimpse of our new series and specials premiering exclusively on YouTube. We’ve partnered with YouTube creators, mainstream celebrities, and world-class production companies to create seven new, ad-supported series for YouTube. Featuring global superstars like Ellen DeGeneres, Rhett & Link and Kevin Hart (just to name a few), these new shows will be available to audiences globally later this year and offer our advertisers a chance to tap into the wide audience appeal of powerhouse talent and engage viewers as only YouTube can.

In fact, a recent study from Ipsos asked Canadians about the personalities that were most influential over the things they are thinking about, talking about, researching and buying. And overwhelmingly, Canadians that the personalities they watch on YouTube were more influential than mainstream personalities.

YouTube is one of the most dynamic, creative and inspiring communities in history: millions of voices, creating hundreds of millions of videos, all being watched by over a billion people. Come and join the conversation!

Posted by Sam Sebastian, VP, Google and Managing Director of Google Canada

Spending quality time with our family and friends at home is important. What if technology could make the most of those special moments by helping us get things done?

Google Home is a voice-activated smart speaker powered by the Google Assistant that does just that. Whether you want to get results from Google, turn up the music, manage your everyday tasks or control compatible smart devices in your home, all you have to do is say “Ok Google.”

Now, Google Home is coming to Canada, and with it we’re bringing the Google Assistant to Canadians in both English and French.


With Google Home, you can:

• Get help from the Google Assistant: Ask your Assistant on Google Home a question, and it will tap into everything Google has to offer —Search, Maps, Translate and more. You can get the latest on weather, traffic, finance, news, sports, and local businesses when you need them most.
• Enjoy your music: Whether you're in the mood to listen to a podcast or dance around the living room, Google Home helps you enjoy your favourite tunes. With a simple voice command, you can play songs, playlists, artists and albums from Google Play Music, Spotify, and more.* Plus, you can enjoy news, podcasts, and radio.
• Manage your everyday tasks: There’s never a shortage of things to do in the home and we could all use a little help sometimes. With your permission, the Google Assistant will help you with things like your daily schedule, commute, and more. Plus it’s a whiz at setting alarms, starting timers, and adding items to your shopping list.
• Control your smart home: If you have smart devices in your home, you can use your Assistant to control your lights and switches from brands including Nest, Philips Hue or Samsung SmartThings and more.
• A speaker designed for any room: Google Home’s high excursion speaker delivers Hi-Fi sound quality. It can also hear you reliably thanks to far-field microphones and sophisticated natural language processing. Crafted to fit naturally in many areas of your home, we designed the top to be clean with a hidden LED light ring to blend in.

Google Home is available for pre-order starting today from the Google Store and Best Buy Canada. 

Google Home will be available starting on June 26th from the Google Store, Bell, Best Buy, Indigo, London Drugs, Rogers, Staples, The Source, Telus, Visions, and Walmart.

Posted by Micah Collins, Google Home Group Product Manager

*Google Home is optimized for selected music services only. Subscriptions/payments may be required. Google Home requires a Wi-Fi network, a nearby electrical outlet, and a compatible (Android, iOS) mobile device. Minimum OS requirements are available at g.co/home/req.

T-shirt. Check. Flip flops. Check. Android phone. Check.

As Canadians exchange parkas and scarves for t-shirts and flip flops this spring, we have some news that may lighten their pockets, too. Whether you’re heading out to buy groceries or grabbing a cup of coffee with friends, now your Android phone is all you need to walk out the door.

Today, we’re beginning to roll out Android Pay across Canada to help you pay simply and securely in stores and in apps.

We’ll be rolling out support for top banks over the next several days, and this is just the beginning. We will continue to add even more features, banks and store locations in the coming months, making it even easier to pay with your Android phone.
Now, you’ll be able to use Android Pay at hundreds of thousands of shops across the country that accept contactless payments, like Tim Hortons, Loblaws, Petro-Canada, McDonald’s, Indigo, Pizza Pizza, Sears Canada and more, and in TELUS, Rogers, Fido and Freedom Mobile retail stores. Just tap with your phone as you would with your participating credit, debit or prepaid card. It’s that simple. 
You’ll also be able to breeze through checkout in your favourite apps, including Lululemon, Uber, Ritual, HotelTonight, and more. Just look for the Android Pay button, and say goodbye to entering your payment and address details each time you buy.
Android Pay also stores your gift cards, loyalty cards and special offers right on your phone.

How does Android Pay work?

Using Android Pay is simple. Just wake up your phone (you don’t even have to open an app or unlock it), hold it near the payment terminal, and voilà — your payment is done. After you check out, you’ll get helpful information on your phone about your recent transactions.
To get started, install the Android Pay app from the Google Play Store. It’s available on all Android devices that are NFC-enabled, supporting Google Play Services, and running on KitKat 4.4 or higher. Simply open, set up, and get tapping.

Over the next several days, Android Pay is rolling out with support from eligible Visa and MasterCard credit cards from BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Banque Nationale, Scotiabank, Desjardins, President’s Choice Financial, ATB Financial, and Canadian Tire Financial Services in Canada, and prepaid Scotiabank and Desjardins cards. Support for Interac-branded debit cards will begin roll-out on Monday, and support for American Express cards and Tangerine is coming later this summer. You can add multiple eligible cards and select which card you want to use before you pay, so you can always enjoy the best deals available.
We've teamed up with many leading payment platforms, processors, and technology providers such as Moneris, Bambora, Chase, Cybersource, First Data, Global Payments, Paysafe, WorldPay and Stripe to make it even easier to accept Android Pay. Visit the Android Pay API developer site to learn more.
Happy shopping!

Posted by Pali Bhat, VP of Payment Products

Today’s guest post is brought to you by Doodle 4 Google judge Sophie Diao 

A spacesuit that lets astronauts walk on Mars. Robots that cure cancer. Machines that turn garbage into paper. Waterslides that transport you everywhere.

These are just some of the great ideas that Canadian students, from kindergarten to grade 12, came up with for Canada’s second Doodle 4 Google contest.

Back in March, we asked students across the country to use their imagination and create a doodle that answers the question “What I see for Canada’s future is…”, to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday.

As a Google Doodler, I get to collaborate with some of the brightest artists, designers and engineers who create doodles, those fun and surprising illustrations on Google's home page. I jumped at the opportunity to be a judge in this year’s contest and help the next generation of artists, animators, and engineers explore their creative sides.

We were blown away by the thousands of students who submitted a doodle and shared their vision of Canada’s future -- from co-existing peacefully with nature to innovative and eco-friendly technological advancements.

Now, Doodle 4 Google needs your vote! Help us pick the lucky Canadian student who will have their artwork takeover Google.ca for a day and win a $10,000 university scholarship.

Check out this year’s 12 grade group winners below and head over to g.co/d4gcanada to vote for your favourite. Share and vote as many times as you want!

Your vote will help determine our four grade group winners, who will receive a $5,000 technology award for their schools. From there, we’ll choose our winning student, who will receive a $10,000 scholarship and a $10,000 technology award for his/her school plus have their doodle takeover Google.ca for a day!

We’ll reveal the winning doodles at our finale event on June 13 at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Kindergarten-Grade 3 
Grade 4-6

Grade 7-9 

Grade 10-12 

Posted by Sophie Diao, Google Doodler

Editor’s Note: Today’s blog is guest authored by Jennifer Flanagan, President and CEO of Actua 

Today, at the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall, over 1200 students gathered to explore, learn and have fun with science and technology at Go North - Inspiring Future Innovators.

Building on the Go North technology summit, this one-day immersive event highlights the countless possibilities that STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - has to offer. The day is run by Actua and the University of Toronto’s Engineering Outreach team, who are national leaders in STEM programming. The participants, in grades 4 to 8, and their teachers engaged in hands-on workshops meant to spark a passion and stimulate a curiosity in STEM.

The partnership between the University of Toronto, Actua and Google is built on the shared goal that this experience will ignite and inspire these young students to consider computer science as not just a field of study but as a way to solve the big world problems of the future. According to the World Economic Forum, 65% of students entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in jobs that don’t yet exist. U of T, Actua and Google recognize the urgency of fostering an interest in STEM and the critical need to help equip students with skills they will need to excel.
In Innovate Alley, a corridor lined with education startups and tools to help ignite curiosity, the students and their teachers had an opportunity to immerse themselves in hands-on workshops with U of T engineering students and Actua outreach instructors.

For more than 20 years, Actua and our university network members have worked to prepare young Canadians to be innovators and leaders by engaging them in exciting and accessible STEM experiences that build critical skills and confidence.

This includes our Codemakers program, supported by Google, which has engaged over 80,000 youth in computer science and digital skill building. Canadian youth from all over this country have participated in Codemakers whether through coding throat singing in Canada’s north or printing 3-D selfies in Vancouver or participating in events like today. This unique partnership allows us to create unique moments of inspiration that connect technology to kids lives in meaningful ways.

Together, we can show students that technology offers everyone the potential to create, to collaborate and to invent.

Posted by Jennifer Flanagan, President and CEO of Actua. The University of Toronto is one of 34 Actua network members across Canada annually engaging 250,000 youth in hands-on STEM.