In this edition:
- Government of Canada to release Budget 2024 on April 16
- After 95 years Niagara District Airport still has room to grow, CEO says
- Niagara Grape & Wine Festival recognized with three prestigious awards
- 25-storey-tall Welland apartment buildings proposed for Niagara St.
- Competition Bureau issues warning, tips to combat AI-driven fraud
- 624,000 Canadians now working in gig economy for primary source of income: StatCan
- Focus on Retail
Government of Canada to release Budget 2024 on April 16
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, will present Budget 2024 in the House of Commons Tuesday April 16, 2024, at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET.
“Our economic plan is about building more homes, faster, making life more affordable, and creating more good jobs,” Minister Freeland remarked. “This plan will unlock pathways to a good middle class life for the next generation—because Canada is stronger when everyone has an equal chance to succeed.”
After 95 years Niagara District Airport still has room to grow, CEO says
The Niagara District Airport is a well-known fixture in Niagara-on-the-Lake, but many NOTLers aren’t familiar with all of its functions.
When Dan Pilon, CEO of the airport, presented his Learn & Live segment “Our Niagara District Airport,” on Monday, many were surprised to find out that the airport has been in the community for nearly a century.
Niagara Grape & Wine Festival recognized with three prestigious awards
Canada’s oldest and largest wine celebration was recognized with three highly coveted awards at the annual Festival and Events Ontario (FEO) Awards Gala on February 28. In addition to being named one of Ontario’s Top 100 Festivals for the tenth year in a row, Niagara Grape & Wine Festival volunteers received the Family Volunteer of the Year Award and the Cool As Ice Gala was honoured with the FEO Innovation Award.
25-storey-tall Welland apartment buildings proposed for Niagara St.
Highrise buildings that could soar as tall as 25 storeys are proposed to be built on Niagara Street in Welland.
A developer is looking for support from the City of Welland and council for zoning changes to eight properties in the city’s north end to allow apartment buildings as tall as 25 storeys and four-storey stacked townhouses with as many as 1,196 residential units.
The highrises would become the city’s tallest buildings.
Competition Bureau issues warning, tips to combat AI-driven fraud
According to Statistics Canada, fraud cases in Canada have almost doubled over the past ten years, surging from 79,000 in 2012 to 150,000 in 2022. This increase shows that fraudsters are becoming more skilled, and technology like AI is helping them improve their old tricks.
AI can be used to quickly produce texts, emails, and messages in the style and language of a specific person. It can be used to clone anyone’s voice. And in just minutes, it can be used to make fake images, audio, or videos of real people.
‘No longer about muscle’: Female leaders share strategies to address labour shortage
Workers should be defined by ability, not gender, said Jamie McMillan, founder of Made in the Trades, who was part of an industry think-tank discussion at a recent Canadian Institute conference.
“Making the trades a friendly environment for everyone is not so much about promoting just a certain group. It’s not about being exclusive to one group. It’s about being inclusive to all groups and recognizing that we all have what it takes in us as humans to do whatever the heck we want. We should not be defined by gender. We should be defined by our ability,” McMillan told the audience.
624,000 Canadians now working in gig economy for primary source of income: StatCan
Today, Statistics Canada is releasing a reference report titled, “Defining and measuring the gig economy using survey data.” In October, November and December 2022, an average of 624,000 self-employed Canadians aged 15 to 69 years had a main job with characteristics that were consistent with the concept of gig work.
In addition to self-employed gig workers, 247,000 Canadians who were paid employees in their main job had employment characteristics that were consistent with the definition of gig work in the fourth quarter of 2022.
First-time homebuyer incentive is discontinued, says federal housing agency
The first-time homebuyer incentive has been discontinued by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the federal agency announced on Thursday.
The deadline for new or resubmitted applications to the program is midnight ET on March 21, 2024, according to the CMHC’s website.
Did you know?
75% of land in the United Kingdom is farmed. In Canada, it is 6.2%.
Focus on Retail
Costco, Lowe’s, Best Buy, and Tractor Supply are winning the battle against retail theft in a strikingly similar way
Dozens of retailers have warned investors in recent months that an increase in inventory shrink — driven primarily by retail theft — is taking a bigger bite out of profits this year.
“Organized retail crime is worse now than I’ve ever seen it,” Tractor Supply CEO Hal Lawton told Insider in August.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison told the Goldman Sachs Retail Conference in September.
Best Buy CEO Corie Barry told analysts her company is “definitely seeing an increase” in theft at certain stores.
But each of those executives followed up their observations about the industry in general with statements about their companies in particular that echo Costco CFO Richard Galanti: “We haven’t seen any major change in shrinkage,” he said in May. “We’ve been fortunate in that regard.”
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.
