In this edition:
- Tourism businesses: how was your long weekend?
- RBC forecasts recession in 2023
- Niagara College wins global citizenship award
- OHL approves IceDogs transfer of ownership
- Canada’s trade surplus reaches 14-year high
Calling all tourism businesses: how was your long weekend?
As you may know, the GNCC is actively lobbying the Government of Canada to lift all remaining COVID-related border restrictions, and especially to remove the ArriveCan app.
As part of our efforts, we are attempting to gather information on how the border restrictions might be impacting our tourism industry.
If you operate a tourism business or serve tourists in Niagara, we would greatly appreciate your insights into trade over the July 1-4 long weekend. Please complete the survey below. It has only four simple questions, and should only take a minute or two of your time.
Click here to complete our survey.
RBC first to forecast Canada will fall into recession in 2023
Economists with the Royal Bank of Canada are predicting the country will head into a moderate and short-lived recession in 2023 as inflation, historic labour shortages and rising interest rates drag on the economy.
In a report released Thursday, the bank said Canada’s unemployment rate is now almost a full percentage point below RBC’s assumption of the longer-run, non-inflationary level.
“(Recession) has become, in our view, the most likely outcome,” Nathan Janzen, one of the report’s authors, said.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that RBC was the first of Canada’s big banks to make such a prediction.
Niagara College wins international award for global citizenship
Niagara College has been recognized by the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP) with a bronze award in the category of Global Citizenship.
The WFCP’s 2022 Awards of Excellence were presented at its World Congress in San Sebastian, Spain. The awards recognize WFCP member institutions and celebrate their contributions to excellence in the global technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector.
“Each year, I am thrilled to see so many Canadian institutions recognized by the WFCP for their global leadership in education and training,” said Denise Amyot, President and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). “Niagara College’s award for Global Citizenship is a testament to how well the college continues to prepare students to excel in the worldwide community despite unprecedented global challenges.”
The award was accepted by Niagara College President Sean Kennedy, and Vice-President of International, Sean Coote.
OHL Board of Governors approve transfer of ownership of Niagara IceDogs Hockey Club
The Ontario Hockey League has unanimously approved the transfer of ownership of the Niagara IceDogs Hockey Club to a group consisting of majority owner Darren DeDobbelaer alongside minority stakeholder Wayne Gretzky.
Gretzky says he’s excited to be back in junior hockey and can’t wait to get started. Gretzky played in the OHL for the Soo Greyhounds during the 1977-78 season prior to a Hall of Fame NHL career,
DeDobbelar says “the fans, facility and the Niagara Region are second to none.”
DeDobbelaer comes to the OHL having served as President and General Manager of the Brantford 99ers (OJHL) and Brantford Bandits (GOJHL) hockey clubs.
Canada’s trade surplus reaches 14-year high
In May, Canada’s merchandise exports rose 4.1% compared with April, a fifth consecutive monthly increase. Meanwhile, imports decreased 0.7%. As a result, Canada’s merchandise trade surplus with the world widened from $2.2 billion in April to $5.3 billion in May, the largest trade surplus since August 2008.
The contribution of prices to monthly movements was once again noteworthy in the merchandise trade results for May. As seen in previous months, variations in real (or volume) terms were significantly different from those in nominal terms observed in May. Export volumes increased 1.7%, while import volumes decreased 1.4% compared with April.
Reading Recommendations
‘I’m done with crypto’: Voyager bankruptcy rocks true believers
Bloomberg News
Crypto investors are known for their devotion, but their confidence is cracking as the latest company collapse rattles the industry.
News that customers of bankrupt broker Voyager Digital Ltd. likely won’t get all their money back has struck a new kind of fear into those already whipsawed by the sector’s swift declines.
Crypto traders often shrug off steep losses, arguing they’re holding for the long term and expect prices to rebound. Yet for investors who trusted Voyager with their retirement savings, down payments and emergency cash, the prospect that their investments might be gone forever is a wakeup call for those who believed large trading platforms offered a form of security.
Aaron Selenica, 21, says he “fell into the crypto craze” last fall after hearing about Bitcoin from his friends and joining the University of Connecticut’s crypto club. He saw ads for Voyager at the school’s basketball games and eventually invested about US$15,000 in Bitcoin on the platform.
Now, his holdings are worth about US$6,900 and he doubts he’ll even be able to get that back. He knew investing in crypto came with risks, but he never expected the platform to collapse.
Cities need to embrace green innovation now to cut heat deaths in the future
The Conversation
In late June 2021, North America’s most severe heat wave in history hit British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. In many areas, temperatures soared above 40 C, 15 C hotter than the normal average high. Although other places in North America regularly hit these highs, the extreme contrast to “normal” is what exposes acute infrastructure, economic, environmental and social vulnerabilities.
Heat waves silently roll in with only a shimmer of visible evidence, but leave a wake of mortality greater than floods, wildfires or hurricanes. By mid-July, this one had caused 1,400 deaths. Emergency rooms across the Pacific Northwest were overwhelmed with visits 100 times greater than normal. Lytton, B.C. — where temperatures soared to 49.6 C — was largely vaporized by a wildfire that scorched the town in 30 minutes.
Research warns that if current greenhouse gas levels are sustained, “record-shattering” heat waves are up to seven times more likely than they have been over the past few decades. As an urban climate policy analyst, I believe that North America’s 2021 extreme heat event should compel governments to scale innovations from leading cities and countries to advance resilient, restorative and renewable cities.
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.
