In this edition:
Government of Canada doubles homeless strategy funding
Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion announced that the Government of Canada has nearly doubled its investments in Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy, from over $2 billion over 9 years to nearly $4 billion in federal funding since its launch in April 2019. This includes over $1.1 billion in new investments through Budgets 2021 and 2022, to further support communities in addressing homelessness for individuals and families across Canada.
Overall in the first two years of the program, over 75,000 services were provided to prevent persons from becoming homeless or that helped place them into housing.
Residential construction declines, non-residential picks up slack
Despite six provinces reporting growth, residential construction investment declined 0.4% to 15.5 billion in June, with Quebec (-6.7%) causing most of the fall. This was the first decline in nine months for residential investment. Gains in the non-residential sector (+2.4%) helped keep overall investment post a gain of 0.3% to $20.8 billion in June.
Ontario education union prepares for strike vote amid ongoing contract talks
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government is accusing an education workers’ union of preparing for a strike in September even as the two sides continue to negotiate a multi-year contract.
The Ontario School Boards Council of Unions, which represents 55,000 custodians, early childhood educators, education assistants and library workers, recently sent a memo to members notifying them of a meeting on Aug. 22 to discuss a potential strike vote.
The union presented the government with its first offer, including wage increases of $3.25 per hour per year for the length of the contract.
Meridian OneCap wins 2022 ELFA Award
Canadian equipment financing company Meridian OneCap Credit Corp. is the recipient of the 2022 Operations & Technology Excellence Award presented by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), based in Washington, D.C.
Meridian OneCap was recognized for Project BOOST, a multi-year program that transformed operations, customer service and workplace culture.
Canada Summer Games continue
Click here for a list of events, times, and locations.
Focus on Human Resources
2 in 5 employers boosting starting salaries
Canadian HR Reporter
In a very tight labour market, nearly half of managers (47 per cent) are reporting an increase in voluntary turnover within their department in the last year.
To meet these challenges, two in five (42 per cent) are increasing starting salaries, finds a survey by Robert Half Canada.
To further entice potential candidates:
- 34 per cent are offering remote options
- 31 per cent are providing signing bonuses
- 31 per cent are loosening education, skills or experience requirements
- 30 per cent are evaluating candidates outside of their company’s geography and allowing new hires to live anywhere.
Hiring process ‘broken’ in many Canadian firms, experts say. What’s the fix?
Global News
As Canada continues to struggle with a nationwide labour shortage, some experts say that the hiring process in several organizations across varied sectors is “broken.”
They say the issue has existed for a long time due to companies’ heavy reliance on referrals and was exacerbated by workplace changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Nita Chhinzer, a professor of human resources and business consulting at the University of Guelph in Ontario, the problem with the current hiring processes in some organizations is that many small or medium-sized businesses don’t have a human resources department that’s up-to-date with current technology or knowledge of where to find labour.
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.
