The City of St. Catharines’ small-business support office is gearing up for another annual run of Starter Company Plus.
St. Catharines Enterprise Centre supporting entrepreneurs with Starter Company Plus
The City of St. Catharines’ small-business support office is gearing up for another annual run of Starter Company Plus. Through the provincially funded program, the team at the Enterprise Centre provides business training, mentorship and a grant up to $5,000 to help eligible entrepreneurs successfully launch their own businesses.
Since 2013 the centre has assisted 100 new businesses through the program. Of those 100 businesses, 88 still operate, accounting for over 200 local jobs.
The application deadline for this year is Sept. 27.
Before signing up, interested business owners are encouraged to participate in one of two upcoming information sessions on Sept. 15 and 22. More information, including registration, for the information sessions can be found at www.investinstc.ca/site/training-and-seminars.
For more information on the Starter Company Plus program, including how to apply, visit www.investinstc.ca/site/startercompany.
Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop urges citizens to become fully vaccinated
While over 70% of Fort Erie residents have received their first dose of a vaccine and over 65% are fully vaccinated, Mayor Redekop notes, the town is still behind the Regional and Provincial numbers for those categories. To alert those who wish to obtain their first or second dose of the vaccination, the Town is placing information on its website and social media regarding vaccination clinics being hosted in the town and pharmacies that are providing vaccinations. The Mayor urges everyone to become fully vaccinated, the one sure way to protect yourself, those around you and our community.
Click here for more information (PDF link).
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
Severe thunderstorm warning in effect for Niagara
Conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms late this afternoon into this evening. Some of these thunderstorms will be capable of producing wind gusts up to 100 km/h, large hail up to 2 cm in diameter and locally heavy rainfall.
Click here for more information.
The Election Section
Niagara federal vote projections
[visualizer id=”27072″ lazy=”no” class=””]
| Niagara Centre | Niagara Falls | Niagara West | St. Catharines | Canada (338canada) | Canada (CBC) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloc Quebecois | 7% (32 seats) | 6.8% (31 seats) | ||||
| Conservative Party | 30% | 38% | 46% | 32% | 31.4% (126 seats) | 31% (119 seats) |
| Green Party | 3% | 3.7% | 3.9% | 3.5% | 3.4% (2 seats) | 3.5% (1 seat) |
| Liberal Party | 35% | 31% | 29% | 36% | 31.9% (148 seats) | 31.5% (155 seats) |
| New Democratic Party | 24% | 21% | 14% | 23% | 19.3% (31 seats) | 19.1% (32 seats) |
| People's Party | 7.6% | 6% | 6.5% | 5.8% | 6% (0 seats) | 7% (0 seats) |
| Christian Heritage | - | - | 1.1% | - | - | - |
Data are provided by 338canada.com and the CBC using an aggregate of polls. Projections are updated daily. Click here for more information and margins of error.
Download the Canadian Chamber’s policy tracker, which summarizes party commitments made to date.
Niagara’s Prosperity Matters: Growing a prosperous economy
Canadians are hardworking and innovative, so it is no surprise SMEs are Canada’s biggest employers. The next Parliament must ensure an environment that helps Canada’s entrepreneurs grow and create jobs.
The GNCC is calling on all parties to continue facilitating the secure digitalization of SMEs. The government can enhance growth by making cybersecurity part of the recently launched Canada Digital Adoption Program and by championing the development of cybersecurity standards across the country.
Click here to read more about the GNCC’s Niagara Prosperity Plan.
Tories leading in two key seats, but polls are close
iPolitics
The electoral race in St. Catharines, a city in south-central Ontario, might be tougher than Liberal incumbent Chris Bittle expected.
The riding was created in 1968 and was redistributed to its current configuration in 2012. In 2016, its population was about 112,000, and the median household income was just under $58,000.
Bittle defeated Conservative Rick Dykstra in 2015, who first won in 2006 over incumbent Liberal Walk Lastewka.
Conservative Krystina Waler, who ran in 2019, is back to try unseat Bittle. Joining her in the race are: NDP candidate Trecia McLennon, Green candidate Catharine Rhodes, and People’s party candidate Rebecca Hahn.
Two years ago, Bittle defeated Waler by more than 5,000 votes.
Parties focus on key battlegrounds in tight Canadian election
Reuters
Canada’s federal election race is so close that even a few swing districts on the western Prairies, a region usually hostile to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, may be key to his hopes to stay in power, analysts say.
Trudeau, 49, called an election for Sept. 20 two years early, gambling that the country’s successful COVID-19 vaccination campaign would help him hold the 155 seats he currently holds and pick up 15 more, which would allow him to govern without opposition support in the 338-seat House of Commons.
But he appears destined to come up short, according to polls, and a minority government for either the Liberals or Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives is most likely, said Darrell Bricker, CEO of pollster Ipsos Public Affairs.
Reading Recommendations
No jab, no pay: Quebec gives health-care workers deadline to get fully vaccinated
CBC News
Quebec health-care workers in both the public and private systems who are not adequately vaccinated by Oct. 15 will be suspended without pay, the province’s health minister, Christian Dubé, announced Tuesday.
Dubé and Quebec Premier François Legault both said in recent weeks they intended to make vaccination mandatory for health-care workers, but until Tuesday, they had not specified a deadline or consequences for workers who didn’t follow the mandate.
Dubé made the announcement in Montreal during a provincial update on the pandemic situation in the province.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
Bank of Canada ‘in a pickle’ when it comes to housing: National Bank
BNN Bloomberg
National Bank Economist Warren Lovely said the Bank of Canada is in a tough spot ahead of its monetary policy decision Wednesday, given housing markets all over the country are battling affordability.
“We’ve had a significant reliance on housing in our Canadian economic model,” said Lovely, chief rates and public sector strategist at National Bank, in an interview. “At the same time, affordability is getting away from a lot of Canadians and may require a policy response, not just from politicians contesting the election, but ultimately from our monetary policy makers as well.”
The issue for the Bank of Canada, said Lovely, is that it’s no longer a case of just two markets – Toronto and Vancouver – dealing with runaway prices for homes, which policy makers in this country had grown accustomed to.
Niagara COVID-19 statistics tracker
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. Lower numbers are better in all metrics.
| December 18 | December 25 | January 1 | January 8 | January 15 | January 22 | January 29 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive number | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| New cases per 100,000 | 101.2 | 267.3 | 469.8 | 575.8 | 507.1 | 295.5 | 250.6 |
| New cases per day (not including outbreaks) | 60.7 | 178.7 | 311.7 | 376.9 | 325.4 | 182.7 | 145.7 |
| Percent of hospital beds occupied | 97% | 95.2% | 98.2% | 103.2% | 104.5% | 103.6% | 106% |
| Percent of intensive care beds occupied | 78.8% | 77.3% | 87.9% | 87.9% | 90.9% | 89.4% | 93.9% |
| Percentage of positive tests | 6.1% | 15.6% | 28.1% | 28.6% | 26.6% | 21.2% | 16.2% |
Last updated: August 28, 2021
Click here for definitions of terms used in this table.
On September 3, there were 10 patients admitted to Niagara Health with COVID-19, of which 8 were unvaccinated, 0 were partially vaccinated, and 2 were fully vaccinated. There were 0 patients with COVID-19 in a Niagara Health Intensive Care Unit.
Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health and Niagara Health.
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker
Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.
| Percentage of population with one dose | Percentage of population fully vaccinated | |
|---|---|---|
| Niagara | 82.7% | 78.2% |
| Ontario | 84.6% | 79.1% |
| Canada | 84.7% | 78.6% |
| United States | 75% | 64% |
| United Kingdom | 78% | 72% |
| Germany | 76% | 74% |
| France | 80% | 77% |
| Italy | 83% | 76% |
| Japan | 80% | 79% |
| World | 63% | 53% |
Total doses administered in Niagara: 669,988
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 358
Last updated: September 7, 2021
Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.
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.
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.
