Poets & Quants names Montreal one of the best cities to study for a MBA
You can do an MBA in hundreds of cities around the world, but Montreal is among the best, according to Poets & Quants. But what makes the city such a good place to study? It’s Montreal’s unique energy, according to Kai Zhao (MBA’25). “Montreal blends history, culture and an incredible food scene with a vibrant student community,” says Zhao. “It also has a thriving business community that is home to both innovative start-ups and major companies like Bombardier, Desjardins and Ubisoft.”
Michael Scott’s office misadventures are a lesson in what not do to as a manager
On The Office, Steve Carrell plays Michael Scott, a boss at a small paper and office supply wholesaler who is frequently delusional, insensitive and annoying—sometimes all at once. Still, there are lessons to be learned from the misadventures. “The Office captures the realities of business operations in an exaggerated yet familiar way,” said Kai Zhao (MBA’15) in an interview with Poets & Quants.
When AI is used to set wages, it sets them higher than humans would
When AI sets wages, it pushes them higher, according to recent research by Maxime Cohen, a Professor of Retail and Operations Management at the Bensadoun School of Retail Management. Cohen conducted a study that asked AI to recommend wages for 60,000 freelance profiles in a variety of industries. He found that AI sets wages higher than humans do.
How AI and big data are reshaping the future of retail
The emergence of e-commerce has made for a revolution in retail. Whenever you make a purchase online, you generate data, and that data allows for a higher degree of personalization.
Inside the GCPA: Highlights from October's in-person session
A full house at the CPA Québec Info Session! Faculty and students showed up in impressive numbers, eager to learn about the exciting changes coming to the CPA profession.
Insights from the Reshaping the Future of Retail Conference
Meghan Markowski (MMR'25) captures key takeaways from this year's Reshaping the Future of Retail Conference, which brought together over 250 retail leaders, academics, and students at Montreal’s Sofitel Golden Mile on September 26.
Cree Nation Trust Fund part of bid to turn Bay Building into cultural centre
The Bay Building on Saint Catherine Street is one of Montreal’s most iconic retail locations. But after the Hudson’s Bay Company dissolved in 2025, is future is unclear. One of the bidders for it is the Cree Nation Trust Fund.
Maxime Cohen named to world’s most cited researcher list for third straight year
Each year, Stanford University and the academic publishing company Elsevier celebrate the world’s most influential researchers with its top 2% list, which identifies the researchers who are most widely cited in their field. For the third year in a row, Maxime Cohen was among them.
Professor Warut Khern-am-nuai named to Chair in Economics and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
The Institut de valorisation des données (IVADO), with support from the Fonds de recherche du Québec, has created six new research chairs in artificial intelligence to advance knowledge and train the next generation of AI leaders.
China MBA and MMF Luxembourg featured in McGill’s global campus launch
Quebec’s government has made it more difficult for out of province students to attend McGill, increasing tuition fees and requiring that more students speak French at graduation.
Experts: Economic impact of Quebec housing crisis
According to a report by Quebec researchers studying social inequalities, Quebec’s economy lost $4.2 billion in 2021 due to the ongoing housing crisis — a figure the authors say is likely even higher in 2025.
Manque de logements adéquats : quels coûts sur la prospérité économique? is the first publication in a larger research project conducted by the Observatoire des inégalités du Québec with several partners.
Kate Arthur shares insights into literacy in the age of AI in UNESCO keynote
What does it mean to literate in the age of artificial intelligence? According to Kate Arthur (EMBA 2021) , literacy is about more than knowing how to read or write, it’s about having the tools to understand the world around us and our active role in shaping it. Arthur’s own sense of literacy was upended when she was introduced to language of computing.
Customer service chatbots are everywhere, but people prefer human agents to deal with some issues
The use of customer service chatbots has grown rapidly. Maybe a little too rapidly, according to Vivek Astvansh, an Associate Professor of Quantitative Marketing and Analytics at McGill Desautels. The worldwide chatbot market has expanded from US$370 million in 2017 to US$2.2 billion last year, but customers are not always satisfied with the service they provide.
Independent fashion designers likely to lose out in SSENSE bankruptcy
In a bankruptcy filing in late August, the Montreal-based luxury retailer SSENSE cited a liquidity crisis brought on partly by the unpredictable tariff regime in the United States. At the time of the filing, some independent designers who work with the company said they were owed tens of thousands of dollars, but hadn’t been paid in months.
Buy now, pay later loans promise to boost purchasing power—but can come with strings
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) programs allow consumers to pay for items in instalments. And the market for these financial products has been growing at a 12% annual rate, and is projected to reach $7.5 billion in 2025. Fintech companies like Afterpay, Flexiti and Sezzle allow users to break down major purchases into more manageeable monthly or quarterly payments.
