Canadians are playing video games more than ever during the pandemic, whether it's to escape, or explore a different world while at home. But gaming is far from just mindless entertainment — it can help build community, connect us with loved ones and help us embrace our identity.

In this episode of Now or Never we'll meet people who are using video games to better understand their worlds IRL:

To pass his Inuvialuit culture onto the next generation, Dez Loreen is working with elders to develop a game that shares stories and language from the western Arctic.

Kelsy Medeiros is a professional esport gamer. She has thousands of fans, but she's also been sexually harassed and had her life threatened. Even as gaming faces its own #metoo moment she continues to face backlash as a female player.

As a parent, Alex Zabjek has always been wary of letting her kid play video games. But during the pandemic, she's come to appreciate that his online obsession is one of his primary social outlets and that there may be more benefits than she realized.

Growing up, Nicholas Raffoul didn't see any depictions of queer people falling in love, except in The Sims. The game was the first time he discovered two men could be together and it opened him to a new world of self-expression.

Since his divorce, Steve Vomacka doesn't get to see his 10-year-old son as much as he'd like, but in Fortnite they've found a way to connect through a shared a passion for taking down the bad guys.

Animal Crossing became the game to play early on in the pandemic. Shama Rangwala has discovered it's more than just a distraction from the stresses of life, it can also provide a space for grief and provide a place to honour lost loved ones.

This past year has been financially devastating for many Canadians.

In December alone, 63,000 jobs were lost across the country. And more than 200,000 small businesses could shut their doors permanently due to the coronavirus.

Behind these staggering statistics, there are real people whose lives and bank accounts have been upended by the pandemic. And on this episode of Now or Never, you'll meet some of them.

Flight attendant Valerie Favreau was on a plane working when she found out she'd been laid off. How that sent her family into a tailspin, and forced Valerie to make hard choices about her identity and her future.

Connie Monana sends a big chunk of her income back home to her parents in the Philippines each month. But after nine years of living in Canada as a nanny, Connie still faces an uncertain future here - and very little savings.

Zandile Chiwanza makes a living writing about finances, but at the start of 2020 she had just one dollar in her savings account. How COVID forced her to get serious about saving, and face her guilt around money head on.

Superette Foods is a neighbourhood corner store that's been a fixture in Nanaimo, BC for 44 years. Manager Shari Sorensen was worried that the shop may not make it through the pandemic - until the community rallied together to save it.

And Vanessa Kuzina and Chris Young took a big financial risk when they uprooted their lives in Winnipeg to move to Toronto for a job opportunity. But then the pandemic hit. How they are still grappling with the consequences of that today.

As more and more Canadians are digging into their family's history through genealogy sites and at-home DNA tests, it can raise some sticky questions, and uncover some uncomfortable truths. The question is: what do you do with all that family history you're digging up?

On this episode of Now or Never, you'll meet people who are delving into their family's past, in hopes of changing their family's future.

'60s Scoop survivor Colleen Hele Cardinal grew up fantasizing that her birth parents were Cher and Eric Estrada. When she went searching for the truth, it led to an identity crisis that nearly destroyed her. Find out what`s helping her heal.

As a kid, Kim Ruttig's mom forced her to watch The Lawrence Welk Show on TV - claiming Kim was distant cousins with the legendary polka bandleader. Recently Kim started digging into her family genealogy, and discovered it wasn't just a family legend.

45 years after her son was murdered, Amanda Pierlet is ready to seek closure. She and her granddaughter Holly Gordon take a final trip to commemorate this devastating loss.

Jeff Chiba Stearns didn't know a lot about his Japanese-Canadian identity as a kid growing up. But then he started digging into his family's past, and made some surprising discoveries - about the lasting impact of internment camps, integration, and what it means to be mixed-race. And now Jeff's determined to show his two young kids that being "hapa" is something to celebrate.

And for the first time, Now or Never host Ify Chiwetelu sits down to ask her mom about her experiences of living through Nigeria's Biafran civil war.

Not being able to travel or socialise the way we used to (pre-pandemic) means we have to come up with new ways to escape from our routines. But you don’t need a plane ticket to a tropical destination to get away from it all.

Because today on Now or Never we are inviting you to join people as they find their "happy place" right here at home.

A blind gamer who finds joy and connection in virtual worlds.

A laid-off young worker who installed a sauna in her old garage.

An Indigenous TikTok superstar, whose happy place is in front of her audience of 300,000+.

And more stories of people creating, finding, or fighting for spaces that bring them joy.

Playing an instrument can keep you company when you're lonely, help you grieve, keep your mind sharp - and bring joy at a time of increased isolation. Meet Canadians who are learning a new instrument and making some surprising discoveries along the way.

Proving you're never too old to learn a new instrument, Lawrence McKnight started playing the clarinet at the age of 79. What started as a way to keep his mind sharp evolved into a poignant way for him to connect with his late wife, Blanche.

As an ultra-Orthodox Jewish teenager, Danny Fonfeder accidently heard a guitar riff by Aerosmith on the radio. How that one moment turned his whole world upside down. 

13-year-old Keisha Giesbrecht tells us how love of her violin and K-pop is helping her through isolation.

When the Metis community of Stanley Mission, SK experienced a string of losses, they decided to think outside the box to help them grieve. Caroline Merasty and a group of elementary school kids are learning to play the fiddle - and hope to revive the rollicking fiddling nights that used to dominate this community.

When Kat Estacio immigrated to Canada from the Philippines, she struggled with feelings of belonging. But then one day she walked into a university talent show, and saw a band rocking out on the kulintang - a traditional Filipino instrument. And that moment changed her life forever.

Everywhere you turn these days, you see people clashing over their tightly held beliefs and opinions.

Political elections.

Social justice.

COVID restrictions.

And you don't have to look too far to see how being unwilling to change your mind can have big consequences.

So today on Now or Never, we're taking a different tack.

Meet Canadians who are taking that first step toward changing their mind, no matter how big or small.

Jesse Lipscombe is an activist who engages with friends and strangers alike to change their mind about racism. He tells us what fuels him to have these uncomfortable conversations, and why as much as he hates scaling "Mount Racism" every day, he still believes in "Mount Hope."

After years of being told by her aunties that she needs to straighten her hair, Kristine Maitland is now embracing her "Soul Train" afro. Find out what compelled her to finally change her mind about her hair.

Now or Never listeners call in to tell us about the moment they changed their minds about segways, self-identifying as a dog person, and wearing high-waisted jeans.

When Faith Fundal became the new host of CBC Radio's Up to Speed last month, it was the first time in their career they will be known only as Faith to their audience. Faith tells us about the power of changing your name to match your identity.

When Laura Rice found out she had breast cancer and would need a double mastectomy, she was 100% sure of one thing: to embrace being "strong, flat and fabulous." But after living without breasts, Laura started to regret her decision. So she changed her mind.

Haitham El Khatib and Itamar Shani were raised to hate each other: Haitham is a Palestinian Muslim, and Itamar is an Israeli Jew. How their love of cooking and sharing food brought them together in an unexpected friendship.

Having a meaningful conversation with a parent is easier said than done. Sometimes, it's the people closest to us that are the most difficult to talk to.

On this Now or Never, people are sitting down with their parents and finally having the conversation they've been putting off — like a daughter apologizing to a mother for her youthful indiscretions, and a son confronting his dad for not being around.

For months, concert halls, dive bars and arenas across Canada have been quiet... which has left musicians searching for an audience.

So today, Now or Never is providing a stage and inviting you to take a front-row seat. From a country artist singing her last-ever song to a musician who feels immense pressure to kick off the Christmas season right - it's the Now or Never holiday concert!

We've been living with COVID-19 for almost a year, and this 'new normal' has come with a sharp learning curve. On this Now or Never, find out how people from across the country are facing the challenge and seizing the opportunity to stretch their skills and try something new. 

In Yellowknife, lawyer Jennifer Hunt-Poitras is learning to play the drums to jam with her musician husband Norbert Poitras - and get in touch with her missing inner rocker.

In Ottawa, 17-year old Madeline McDermott is learning how to be a hairstylist, cook, nurse, and seamstress - all to support her mom Leslie, who was just diagnosed with breast cancer.

At 104-years-old, Nell Macauley is learning how to FaceTime so she can connect with her family from her Winnipeg care home.

Some NHL players get a crash-course on what it's like to be a stay-at-home dad.

Singer-songwriter Becky Han is singing Inuktitut jingles about the coronavirus to make sure the message of preventing the spread of COVID-19 is understood by all.

Now or Never listeners call in to share the skills and life lessons they're learning through the pandemic.

When longtime Winnipeg DJ Tyler Sneesby (aka DJ Hunnicut) started losing his sight, he had to find a new way to engage not only with an audience, but with himself. The first step is trading his turntable in for something he's never played before.

What do you do when a pandemic hits, and you suddenly find yourself isolating with your grandparents in the Northwest Territories? For 13-year-old Keirah Simon, it means getting a crash-course in what it means to harvest your own food.

In many ways, we're in the middle of the world's biggest social experiment - figuring out how to stay connected, while keeping physically apart.

But is there a silver lining in all this separation? Could it actually deepen our relationships, and make the heart grow fonder?

On this episode of Now or Never, you'll meet Canadians finding creative ways to stay connected, despite the challenges of being apart.

Whenever Coleen Delauriers wants to see her 92-year-old mother Val, she packs up her lawn chair, and sets up shop outside the window of her mom's personal care home. We listen in on one of their calls, and find out what's getting them through.

In their two years of marriage, Govinder Singh Gill and Manit Kaur Gill have lived on opposite sides of the Canada-US border. Now they have a three-month old baby. And with border closures and delays in green card applications, the family doesn't know when they'll be together. But for now, they're dealing with a new kind of separation. Govinder is currently quarantined on the second floor of his wife's home in Edmonton, counting down the moments until he can hold his daughter once again.

Ify gets some advice on planning virtual family dinners - from her four-year-old niece.

After they divorced, Aly Gampel and Shawn Saraga were barely on speaking terms. How co-parenting through COVID has brought them closer together.