Ontario to invest $83 million in Skills Development Fund
The Ontario government is providing an additional $83 million towards the Skills Development Fund to help support training projects that upskill workers and prepare job seekers for meaningful work in their communities. Beginning tomorrow, the fund will begin accepting proposals for the second round of funding and is expanding its eligibility to allow an even wider range of organizations to apply.
Organizations applying for the second round of the Skills Development Fund can also receive funding to accommodate trainees and workers with disabilities. This includes travel costs for people who require mobility support, including site-to-site job travel for both participants and support persons. Employers can receive up to $5,000 per job placement if they support a trainee with a disability.
Funding applications will be accepted starting at 9:00am on September 29, 2021, for as long as funds are available or until the fiscal year ends on March 31, 2022. Interested organizations can apply through Transfer Payment Ontario.
Click here for more information.
Niagara Region Public Health reminds employers to screen and test employees
Niagara Region Public Health is reminding local employers to use health screening and rapid testing to prevent COVID-19 from entering the workplace.
With the Delta variant currently driving a fourth wave in Niagara, there have been 11 workplace outbreaks so far in September. This has required many employees to isolate as close contacts, disrupting business and impeding the economic recovery so many businesses need.
The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the province of Ontario to distribute rapid tests for free to interested workplaces in Niagara.
Click here to read the Region’s media release.
Click here for more information on the GNCC’s free rapid testing kit program.
St. Catharines to require vaccination for all City employees
All City of St. Catharines employees — with the exception of those unable to receive the vaccine due to a Human Rights Code exemption — will be required to be fully vaccinated. With scientific data demonstrating the effectiveness of vaccines in curbing the spread of COVID-19 and the increased risk of the Delta Variant to unvaccinated individuals, the City is adding vaccine requirements to its existing COVID-19 employee safety protocols such as mask requirements, daily screening and increased disinfection efforts.
The City is instituting the policy with a phased-in approach, providing employees who have not yet been vaccinated adequate time to receive a two-dose vaccine regimen.
Click here for more information.
Payroll employment rises by 325,000 in July
Payroll employment—or the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer—increased by 324,800 (+2.0%) in July, the largest monthly increase since September 2020, Statistics Canada reports. The increase was driven mainly by gains in the services-producing sector in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
Click here for more information.
Truth and Reconciliation
Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation will be observed on September 30. It provides an opportunity for us to recognize and commemorate the history and ongoing legacy of residential schools and the trauma experienced by so many. From today until September 30, this section of the Daily Update will contain resources and information to aid and honour residential school survivors and their families, and to promote good relationships and economic reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. We believe the business community has an important role to play in reconciliation.
September 30 is a federal statutory holiday. If your business is federally-regulated, you must observe this holiday. For provincially-regulated businesses, observation is optional.
Help and Resources
For those who need support, a national Residential School Survivor Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week: 1-866-925-4419. For non-Indigenous people, Crisis Services Canada is available to help: 1-833-456-4566.
The Hope for Wellness Help Line offers immediate help to all Indigenous peoples across Canada.
The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program provides mental health, emotional and cultural support services to eligible former Indian Residential School students and their families.
Native Land Indigenous digital map
Native Land Digital strives to create and foster conversations about the history of colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and settler-Indigenous relations, through educational resources such as our map and Territory Acknowledgement Guide. They strive to go beyond old ways of talking about Indigenous people and to develop a platform where Indigenous communities can represent themselves and their histories on their own terms.
Click here to view an interactive map of Indigenous territories and languages.
Reading Recommendations
Canada’s Trudeau says cabinet coming next month; finance minister to stay
Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday he will swear in his new cabinet next month, with Chrystia Freeland returning as his finance minister and deputy, after his Liberals were re-elected for the third time.
Trudeau, speaking with reporters in Ottawa at his first full news conference since the Sept. 20 election, also said lawmakers would be back in parliament this fall – without giving a date – and that putting previously announced vaccine mandates in place would be a priority.
Housing market at high risk of sharp correction, CMHC says
Financial Post
Canada’s housing agency said the country is now at high risk of a sharp correction in home valuations as the continued appreciation in prices becomes unmoored from economic fundamentals.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. raised its market risk assessment to high from moderate on Tuesday, in a report showing both activity and prices remain near record levels reached earlier this year amid rock-bottom mortgage rates and a frenzy for bigger living spaces driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though Canada has seen a rising vaccination rate and an improving economy since then, the strength in the housing market is still far beyond what’s warranted by these developments, with prices further detached from labor incomes, the agency said.
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: September 18, 2021
Click here for definitions of terms used in this table.
On September 27, there were 11 patients admitted to Niagara Health with COVID-19, 10 of whom were unvaccinated and 1 of whom were fully vaccinated. There were 2 patients with COVID-19 in a Niagara Health Intensive Care Unit.
Over the last 28 days, a Niagara resident vaccinated with 1 dose was 4.1 times more likely to contract COVID-19, and an unvaccinated person was 7.7 times more likely. The average weekly rate of hospitalized cases in unvaccinated Canadians was 38 times higher compared to fully vaccinated people.
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: 701,214
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 1,188
Last updated: September 28, 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.
Through the Daily Updates, the GNCC aims to deliver important business news in a timely manner. We disseminate all news and information we feel will be important to businesses. Inclusion in the Daily Update is not an endorsement by the GNCC.
