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Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Home / Daily Update  /  Daily Update: August 26 2024

Daily Update: August 26 2024

August 26, 2024 | Daily Update

In this edition:

  • Government of Canada takes steps to reduce number of temporary foreign workers
  • St. Catharines business-sharing centre can accommodate as many as 50 businesses
  • Welland City Councillor elected to Ontario municipal association’s Small Urban Caucus
  • Canada announces tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, steel, and aluminum
  • New data shows number of commuters on upward trend
  • Williamson Point officially opens at Malcolmson Eco-Park
  • Focus on Technology

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Photo credit: New Africa / Adobe Stock

Government of Canada takes steps to reduce number of temporary foreign workers

Given current labour market conditions, and to further reduce the reliance of Canadian employers on the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, announced today that the Government is taking further action to weed out what it calls “TFW Program misuse and fraud.”

Effective September 26,

  • the Government of Canada will refuse to process Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) in the Low-Wage stream, applicable in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher.
  • employers will be allowed to hire no more than 10% of their total workforce through the TFW Program.
  • the maximum duration of employment for workers hired through the Low-Wage stream will be reduced to one year.

Click here to read more.

Photo credit: Yakobchuk Olena / Adobe Stock

St. Catharines business-sharing centre can accommodate as many as 50 businesses

The third floor of an office building in downtown St. Catharines could be home — and home away from home — for as many as 50 businesses after undergoing extensive renovations.

Besides making boardrooms available for community organizations, International Workplace Group (IWG) will also have up to 12 “hot desks” in an open lounge once its first flexible workspace in the Niagara region opens in December.

Click here to read more.

Photo credit: City of Welland

Welland City Councillor elected to Ontario municipal association’s Small Urban Caucus

The City of Welland is proud to announce that Ward 3 Councillor Sharmila Setaram has been elected to the Small Urban Caucus at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Annual Conference. Councillor Setaram’s election is a significant achievement – she was one of four successful candidates from a group of eleven, and she is the only representative from Niagara.

Click here to read more.

Photo credit: RafMaster / Adobe Stock

Canada announces tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, steel, and aluminum

Today in Halifax, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, announced a series of measures to protect the Canadian auto sector from what the government has termed Chinese “unfair competition.”

The Government of Canada intends to implement a 100 per cent surtax on all Chinese-made EVs, effective October 1, 2024. This includes electric and certain hybrid passenger automobiles, trucks, buses, and delivery vans. The federal government also intends to apply a 25 per cent surtax on imports of steel and aluminum products from China, effective October 15, 2024.

Click here to read more.

Photo credit: disq / Adobe Stock

New data shows number of commuters on upward trend

The number of commuters reached 16.5 million in May 2024, continuing an upward trend that followed notable declines recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The number of commuters was up 585,000 (+3.7%) in May 2024 compared to May 2023, driven by employment growth (+373,000 or +1.9%) and by an increase in the share of the employed population working at locations other than home.

Among all commuters, 81.5% mainly used a car (including truck or van) to commute to work in May 2024, down 1.1 percentage points from May 2023 and 2.7 percentage points lower than the record high of 84.2% in May 2022.

Click here to read more.

Photo credit: City of St. Catharines / supplied

Williamson Point officially opens at Malcolmson Eco-Park

The City of St. Catharines is pleased to announce the successful grand opening of Williamson Point at Malcolmson Eco-Park, which took place Thursday morning.

The event, attended by community members, City officials, and special guests, celebrated the dedication of a parkette in the northernmost part of the park in honour of the Williamson family, who played a significant role in the history of the Welland Canal.

Click here to read more.

Did you know?

Until the Trans-Canada Highway opened in 1962, you could only travel across Canada by train.

Focus on Technology

Explaining the absence of robots in modern greenhouses

We know growers face significant challenges with the cost and availability of skilled labour. We’ve seen amazing technological advancements in computer, vision, AI, and robotics coupled with ever-increasing capabilities and continuously decreasing component costs. And the AgTech ecosystem is adding new members offering all kinds of new technologies at an impressive rate.

However, what we don’t yet see are robots everywhere on farms, in orchards, and in greenhouses. Mechanization has established a secure position in agriculture and industrial-style automation has a good presence in the pre-planting and post-harvesting space. So, why don’t we see more robots?

Click here to read more.

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.

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