In this edition:
- Ontario now requires naloxone kits in at-risk workplaces
- Strong consumer protection and consumer education will be important for open banking in Canada: FCAC
- Air Canada flight communicator system breaks down, causing widespread delays
- Almost one in four businesses offers at least one type of service in English and French: StatCan
- St. Catharines eyes affordable housing partnerships for Facer Street property
- Government of Canada supports Indigenous economic development in southern Ontario
Ontario now requires naloxone kits in at-risk workplaces
The Ontario government is now requiring at-risk employers to ensure their workplaces have a life-saving naloxone kit on hand and workers trained on how to use them. As of April, more than 1,000 free nasal spray naloxone kits have been distributed to businesses around the province through Ontario’s Workplace Naloxone Program, while businesses may also obtain their own kits.
In 2022, over 2,500 people died from opioid-related causes in Ontario.
Strong consumer protection and consumer education will be important for open banking in Canada: FCAC
Today, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) published a report on the results of its public opinion research into Canadians’ awareness and understanding of open banking and financial technology (fintech) services.
Open banking is not yet available in Canada, but many Canadians are already using fintech apps that use screen scraping to access financial data. Screen scraping is different from open banking because consumers must share their online banking username and password. Sharing this information may violate consumers’ electronic access agreements with their banks and expose them to security, privacy, and liability risks.
The report’s findings provide evidence that strong and consistent consumer protections and education will be essential to build trust, understanding and interest in open banking among Canadians.
Air Canada flight communicator system breaks down, causing widespread delays
Air Canada is experiencing an issue with one of its internal systems, leading to flight delays across its network.
The airline said Thursday it is “experiencing a temporary technical issue with its communicator system, one of the systems that we use to communicate with aircraft and monitor operational performance.”
The issue is causing delays across the system, with 227 flights delayed so far on Thursday, according to FlightAware.com. That’s about 43 per cent of the airline’s daily load.
Almost one in four businesses offers at least one type of service in English and French: StatCan
In 2022, more than 250,000 private business establishments (23.3%) in Canada offered at least one type of bilingual service or conducted at least one business activity in both English and French.
However, variations were observed, for example, by business size. About one in six (17.1%) businesses with one to four employees offered some bilingual services, compared with nearly half (49.5%) of establishments with 100 or more employees. All businesses that offered bilingual services employed 41.0% of the workforce in Canada’s private sector.
St. Catharines eyes affordable housing partnerships for Facer Street property
The Queen Elizabeth Centre property owned by the City of St. Catharines is being eyed as a possible location for affordable housing.
City council wants to explore potential partnership models for building affordable housing at 2 Facer St. that would also allow the existing tenant, Boys and Girls Club of Niagara, to remain.
St. George’s Coun. Kevin Townsend, who made a motion Monday directing staff to explore options, said in an interview Wednesday he chose the location in part because of timing — the building is due for renovations.
Government of Canada supports Indigenous economic development in southern Ontario
Today, the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), announced that a dedicated team and resources are now available to help guide Indigenous-owned businesses and organizations in southern Ontario on programming and services available to them. This team is connecting with Indigenous-led businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs to encourage them to visit FedDev Ontario’s new webpage and contact the Agency by telephone or email to learn more about government funding and support available to help them reach their potential, and achieve their goals.
Did you know?
Nine out of every ten working Canadians works for a small-to-medium enterprise (SME).
Focus on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
How Sports Illustrated and Adidas continue support of transgender community despite backlash
Inclusive marketing is the future of marketing. However, it is important for leaders to acknowledge, that everyone isn’t a fan of inclusion, specifically as it relates to people from specific marginalized communities.
The LGBTQ+ community specifically has born the brunt of a great deal of backlash from certain consumers specifically in response to brands working to include them in campaigns.
Last month, Bud Light sparked an uproar among anti-trans groups as a result of their collaboration with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. And most recently, both Adidas and Sports Illustrated are receiving calls for boycotts after their campaigns featured non-binary and trans models in their campaigns.
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.
