Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses
Visit gncc.ca/workplace-self-screening-kits to learn more and reserve kits for your organization.
Housing and transportation costs push Canada’s annual rate of inflation to 3.1% in June
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.1% in June from a year earlier, slowing from a 3.6% gain in May. The result was dampened by stronger prices as Canada reopened in June of 2020. On a monthly basis, CPI jumped 0.3 per cent.
Statistics Canada reported that shelter costs have increased by 4.4 per cent in the past year as the cost of buying or renting a home continues to increase, and transportation costs went up by 5.6 per cent compared to June of 2020. The inflation rate was dragged lower because the price of many goods has come down from where it was last year, including beef, which has declined by 11 per cent, fresh vegetables (down by 7.5 per cent) and cellular services (down 21 per cent).
Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.2% year over year. For more information, click here.
Ontario earmarks $324M to ramp up efforts to reduce surgical wait times
Ontario says it will spend up to $324 million in new funding to enable hospitals and the community health sector to perform more surgeries, MRI and CT scans and procedures, as part of a wider, comprehensive surgical recovery plan to provide patients with the care they need.
Ontario plans to enable hospitals and community providers to operate at 110 to 115 per cent capacity. $216 million has been dedicated for hospitals to extend operating room hours into evenings and weekends and perform up to 67,000 additional surgeries. For more details, click here.
Minister Ng launches call for applications to deliver the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund
Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, announced the launch of a call for applications to deliver the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund, a loan fund helping women entrepreneurs access the funding they need to start up, scale up and export to new markets.
The call for applications invites not-for-profit business support organizations with significant experience in the management and delivery of loans to apply to deliver the loan fund. Applicants will need to demonstrate their ability to assess business plans, fulfill and underwrite loans, and reach groups that have traditionally experienced greater difficulty in accessing financing, such as start-ups or individuals from under-represented communities. For more information, click here.
The Government of Canada announces Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health, launched the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy, outlining a $2.2 billion investment over seven years from Budget 2021.
The Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy is driven by two objectives: to grow a strong, competitive domestic life sciences sector, with cutting-edge biomanufacturing capabilities, while creating good jobs for Canadians, and to make sure Canada is prepared for pandemics and other health emergencies in the future. This includes increasing domestic capacity through investments and partnerships to produce life-saving vaccines and therapeutics. For more information, click here.
Canada invests $9 million for nature conservation across southern Ontario
Today, the Honourable Deb Schulte, Minister of Seniors, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced $9 million in funding for Conservation Ontario to better conserve lands across southern Ontario.
Through approximately sixty-three projects, Conservation Ontario and regional conservation authorities will implement a variety of conservation activities on grasslands and wetlands, including protecting more land, restoring wetlands, and enhancing agricultural management. For more information, click here.
Signing of the Canada–France Coproduction Agreement
Today, the Government of the French Republic and the Government of Canada signed a coproduction agreement with respect to film, television and audiovisual media services. This agreement provides opportunities for French and Canadian professionals to collaborate on audiovisual projects, and represents the culmination of an ambitious joint effort by the Department of Canadian Heritage and the French Ministry of Culture, which oversee the development of international coproduction. For more information, click here.
Reading Recommendations
More U.S. companies tie CEO pay to diversity metrics – study
Reuters, Ross Kerber
Corporate diversity has become the most common type of sustainability metric used in setting executive pay, a new study found, as companies look to increase the share of women and minorities in their workforces.
Among 61 metrics used by Fortune 100 companies to tie executive pay to environmental, social or governance factors, 14 of them, or 23%, were diversity metrics, according to Nathan Grantz, senior research analyst at compensation consultant Equilar. In all, 44 companies use one or more ESG metrics, including seven that adopted them this year, Equilar found.
Failure to help poor countries fight Covid ‘could cost global economy $4.5tn’, says IMF
The Guardian, Phillip Inman
The world economy risks losing $4.5tn from highly infectious variants of Covid-19 spreading through poor countrieswhere vaccination rates are lower, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
Calling on rich countries to take urgent action to share at least 1bn doses with developing nations, or risk severe economic consequences, the Washington-based fund said the gap between rich and poor economies had widened during the pandemic and risked worsening further next year.
Niagara COVID-19 data
These data show the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in Niagara. The Province of Ontario is now using a provincewide approach to reopening, and these data no longer have any influence on Niagara’s restrictions.
Current number of admitted Niagara Health patients with COVID-19: 3
Patients with COVID-19 in Niagara Health ICU’s: 1
Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health and Niagara Health.
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker
Last updated: July 28, 2021
Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.
Total doses administered in Niagara: 614,284
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 2,210
Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here. The GNCC is here to support you. Contact us with any questions you have.
