GNCC and Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber launch NiagaraMyWay
The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) and the Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce are partnering on a new campaign designed to encourage people to shop locally.
The multi-media initiative is asking Niagara residents to shop locally and share their experiences on social media with the hashtag #NiagaraMyWay. It is a unique and self-personalizing hashtag that invites people to participate and will trigger a personal response among users to fill in their own Niagara experiences. It will ultimately paint a broad mosaic of what Niagara means to different people, and help build a sense of community where people are encouraged to shop locally.
The campaign is being launched October 14th with a series of social media ads, which will be followed in subsequent weeks with advertising in local Niagara newspapers and radio. Ads will also appear in select Toronto media outlets over the course of the three-month campaign.
Businesses interested in participating in #NiagaraMyWay and seeing their organization featured, are encouraged to register their company at GNCC’s website https://gncc.ca/niagaramyway/ or with the Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber https://www.chambernotl.com/shop-local.
Participation is free.
Ontario raises capacity limits for arenas, meeting spaces, theatres, and some other venues
The Government of Ontario, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, is cautiously lifting capacity limits in select indoor and outdoor settings where proof of vaccination is required, as well as certain outdoor settings that have a capacity below 20,000.
Effective Saturday, October 9, 2021, at 12:01 a.m., capacity limits have been lifted to allow 100 per cent capacity in the following settings:
- Concert venues, theatres and cinemas;
- Spectator areas of facilities for sports and recreational fitness (would not include gyms, personal training);
- Meeting and event spaces (indoor meeting and event spaces will still need to limit capacity to the number that can maintain physical distancing);
- Horseracing tracks, car racing tracks, and other similar venues; and
- Commercial film and television productions with studio audiences.
This announcement was made late on October 8th (and thus was not featured in that day’s Daily Update).
No mention of raising capacity limits for other venues or businesses has been made. The GNCC has asked for an evidence-based review of capacity limits for all businesses.
Click here for more information.
Niagara mourns Councillor Sandie Bellows
Regional Councillor Sandie Bellows passed away on the evening of October 10th.
Councillor Bellows dedicated her life to the people of Niagara and was a fierce victims’ rights advocate. This advocacy saw her serve as a keynote speaker for many government and law enforcement agencies, including conferences for the Ontario and Canadian Police Chiefs, hostage negotiators, and American law enforcement agencies. In recognition of her work in this area, Councillor Bellows was invited by Prime Minister Harper to the Victims Bill of Rights ceremony in 2015.
Click here to read the full statement by Regional Chair Jim Bradley.
Reading Recommendations
Canada’s overworked healthcare sector braces for staff shortages as vaccine mandates loom
Reuters
Canada’s health and long-term care industries are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs, as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country, with unions pushing federal and provincial governments to soften hard-line stances.
For hospitals and nursing homes, a shortage of workers would strain the already overburdened workforce dealing with nearly two years of the pandemic. The uncertainty sparked by vaccine mandates underscores the challenges on the road to recovery.
Devon Greyson, assistant professor of public health at the University of British Columbia, said officials are steering into uncharted waters with mass vaccine mandates, and it’s not clear how workers will respond.
“A shortage of workers can mean people’s health and well being. It’s scary,” Greyson said.
Cannabis has been legal almost 3 years, yet retailers say banks are shutting them out
CBC News
Nearly three years after Canada legalized cannabis, many retailers in B.C. say they still struggle to find access to basic financial services from banks.
International pressure and decades of stigma around cannabis still plague the fledgling industry, forcing shop owners to dig into their savings to open their small businesses and limiting the sector’s growth, industry experts told CBC News.
The Association of Canadian Cannabis Retailers (ACCRES) says 50 of its 52 members in B.C. have been denied access at traditional banks, and have turned to local credit unions instead.
“We’re not even talking about loans or credit cards,” said Jaclynn Pehota, executive director of ACCRES.
“We’re talking about very basic financial services like a chequing account. My members are still struggling, three years post-cannabis legalization in Canada.”
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: October 2, 2021
Click here for definitions of terms used in this table.
On October 11, there were 13 patients admitted to Niagara Health with COVID-19, 11 of whom were unvaccinated and 1 of whom was fully vaccinated. There were 5 patients with COVID-19 in a Niagara Health Intensive Care Unit.
Over the last 28 days, a Niagara resident vaccinated with 1 dose was 3.6 times more likely to contract COVID-19, and an unvaccinated person was 6.6 times more likely. The average weekly rate of hospitalized cases in unvaccinated Canadians was 36 times higher compared to fully vaccinated people. Niagara Health has reported that no vaccinated patients have required intensive care to date.
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: 715,114
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 130
Last updated: October 12, 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.
