In this edition:
New FedDev funding available for businesses
New Ontario cabinet to be sworn in on June 24
Niagara-on-the-Lake approves extension of Temporary Patio Program
Brock, YWCA to present research on affordable housing for women in Niagara
NRPS Launches #StopHateNiagara Campaign
New FedDev funding available for businesses
Today, the Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), announced that businesses can now apply to the Regional Quantum Initiative (RQI) in southern Ontario. FedDev Ontario is delivering more than $23 million over six years to support eligible businesses to advance and commercialize their quantum products and solutions for domestic and global markets. This investment is an important next step in advancing a National Quantum Strategy.
Repayable contributions of up to $5 million will be provided to projects that involve a range of activities to demonstrate, commercialize and scale-up Canadian-made quantum technologies, solutions and companies. Project examples include technology demonstration geared towards market growth; commercialization, aimed at bringing new tech to market; business development and capacity building; and adopting quantum technologies.
Applications are now being accepted until September 20, 2022. For more information on eligibility criteria and eligible costs, or to apply to the Regional Quantum Initiative, visit FedDev Ontario’s web page.
New Ontario cabinet to be sworn in on June 24
Premier Doug Ford will be sworn-in alongside his new Executive Council by the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario at 10:00 a.m. on June 24, 2022. Remarks by Premier Ford will be given at 11:15 a.m.
Watch with English closed captioning on the Premier’s official YouTube channel or with French interpretation and closed captioning on the Premier’s official YouTube channel – French.
Niagara-on-the-Lake approves extension of Temporary Patio Program
Niagara-on-the-Lake Town Council passed a Temporary Use By-law to permit the extension of restaurant and bar patios, subject to the Town’s Temporary Patio Program requirements, until February 28, 2023.
This action was necessary to allow for extended use of temporary patios in Niagara-on-the-Lake, following the Province of Ontario’s decision to revoke Regulation 345/20 which allowed for temporary patios throughout the province.
Existing Temporary Patio Permit Holders are not required to re-apply, unless there are changes to their patio. Business operators must still remit a renewed certificate of insurance for 2022.
Any establishments interested in obtaining a new Temporary Patio Permit or existing permit holders wishing to alter or expand their existing patio spaces, will need to submit a new online patio permit application at www.notl.com/business-development/2022-temporary-patio-program.
Brock, YWCA to present research on affordable housing for women in Niagara
Having to share close living space with strangers in unsafe neighbourhoods. Being told, as a racialized new tenant, that an apartment is taken when visiting in person to give a deposit. Balancing the choice between paying rent and putting food on the table.
These are some of the experiences a variety of women in Niagara shared during recent consultations with Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) and the YWCA Niagara Region.
New research informed by these discussions that seeks to improve safe and affordable housing locally will be presented Wednesday, June 22 during an event at Brock University’s main campus.
Niagara Police launch #StopHateNiagara campaign
Since early 2022, the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) has been working with community partners and the Chief of Police Community Inclusion Council (CoP CIC) on a campaign to address hate related incidents in Niagara.
The NRPS is launching a #StopHateNiagara campaign aimed at eliminating barriers to reporting hate incidents/hate crimes, while also providing further information on the difference between hate crimes and hate incidents.
“The Niagara Regional Police Service takes incidents of hate and violence very seriously and will investigate them through our detective offices as well as our Equity Diversity and Inclusion Unit” said Chief of Police Bryan MacCulloch “we encourage anyone who experiences an incident of hatred to report it to police so that it can be properly investigated and addressed. Hate has no home in Niagara.”
Hate crime pamphlets with more information can be found at District front desks as well as online at https://www.niagarapolice.ca/en/what-we-do/report-hate.aspx?_mid_=102839#Hate-Crime-VS-Hate-Incident—what-is-the-difference where they have also been translated to French, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Farsi, Ukrainian, Hindi and Urdu. The pamphlets will also be provided to places of worship and community groups across the Niagara Region.
Reading Recommendations
High inflation expectations raise stakes for Bank of Canada ahead of CPI data
Reuters
The risk of inflation becoming entrenched in Canada’s economy is growing, say analysts, as surging prices for gas and other highly visible consumer items undercut efforts by the Bank of Canada to keep expectations for price increases in check.
Once inflation gets built into an economy it tends to become more difficult to bring under control without triggering an economic slowdown, or even a recession.
Canada’s consumer price index data for May, due on Wednesday, which will include new basket weights that are unlikely to have a major impact, is expected to show inflation climbing above April’s three-decade-high of 6.8%.
The 3-Day Return to Office Is, So Far, a Dud
Curbed
Last month, after the departure of several high-profile executives, Apple walked back its three-day-a-week return-to-the-office policy, which had been slated to go into effect in late May. The company cited the rising number of COVID-19 cases, but the real reason, it seems, was simply that employees didn’t want to. (They’re still required to come in twice a week, making COVID a pretty weak excuse for the policy shift.) Apple is only the latest and highest-profile company to discover that the three-day office week — that eminently reasonable-sounding middle ground for which proposals were widely circulated last year, and subsequently was championed by Mayor Eric Adams, office landlords, and CEOs everywhere — is, in practice, kind of a flop.
“A lot of companies that had been in the news standing firm on their return policies did back up,” said Elise Freedman, a workforce-transformation-practice leader at Korn Ferry who is helping companies coordinate their return-to-office plans. “It’s a very interesting situation. There are no one-size-fits-all answers, no silver bullet. No matter what you do, it’s not going to work for all employees.” Even financial firms, perhaps the most gung ho about return-to-office policies, have mostly caved, resigning themselves to a hybrid future that has, in many cases, stalled out at two-day-a-week callbacks. Only Goldman Sachs seems to be holding firm.
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.
