In this edition:
- Port Colborne to welcome 66 cruise ships in 2026
- Start Me Up Niagara marks milestone with new community van
- Ontario introducing incentive program for business HVAC usage reduction
- Prime Minister announces Canada’s first-ever Investment Summit
- Stronger data laws needed as Canada prepares for Chinese EVs, says privacy commissioner
- Export Development Canada announces that $2.1B has been deployed to support businesses facing tariffs
- Air Canada suspends flights to JFK airport due to jet fuel prices
- Focus on Health & Safety
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Picture credit: City of Port Colborne
Port Colborne to welcome 66 cruise ships in 2026
This season, Port Colborne expects 66 ship visits from four major cruise lines: Viking’s Octantis and Polaris, Victory Cruise Lines’ Victory I and Victory II, Pearl Seas Cruises’ Pearl Mist, and Ponant’s Le Bellot. The arrival of the Viking Polaris on Saturday, April 18, will mark the start of the 2026 cruise ship season.
While cruise ships have long been welcomed in Port Colborne, the City’s cruise tourism is reaching new levels of international interest.
Picture credit: Start Me Up Niagara
Start Me Up Niagara marks milestone with new community van
Local MPP Jennie Stevens met with the team at Start Me Up Niagara (SMUN) as they marked a major milestone by celebrating the arrival of a newly purchased community van. The purchase was made possible thanks to a $76,700 Capital grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF).
Picture credit: markobe / Adobe Stock
Ontario introducing incentive program for business HVAC usage reduction
The Ontario government is further expanding its offerings under the Energy Efficiency Framework by introducing the new Peak Performance program. The new initiative will use financial incentives to encourage commercial and institutional properties to reduce heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) use during periods of high demand. This change is expected to deliver up to 100 megawatts of peak-demand reduction in 2026 and scale up to 230 megawatts in 2027.
Picture credit: Office of the Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister announces Canada’s first-ever Investment Summit
The Prime Minister, Mark Carney, today announced that the first-ever Canada Investment Summit will take place from September 14 to 15, 2026, in Toronto, Ontario. This Summit will convene the world’s largest investors, including top CEOs, entrepreneurs, and prominent global business leaders. The Summit is focused on attracting new investment into Canada to advance Canada’s nation-building projects, create new career opportunities for Canadians, and grow our economy.
Picture credit: ltyuan / Adobe Stock
Stronger data laws needed as Canada prepares for Chinese EVs, says privacy commissioner
Canada’s privacy commissioner says he hopes laws around private sector data sharing are strengthened as the federal government prepares to open the domestic market to Chinese electric vehicles.
Speaking to the standing committee on science and research, Philippe Dufresne said on Apr. 16 that he hopes that Parliament will modernize private sector privacy laws on a number of fronts, including with stronger enforcement abilities.
Picture credit: freshidea / Adobe Stock
Export Development Canada announces that $2.1B has been deployed to support businesses facing tariffs
Export Development Canada announces that it has deployed $2.1 billion through its Trade Impact Program (TIP), reportedly supporting approximately 800 Canadian companies facing tariffs, shifting global trade dynamics and ongoing market uncertainty. Of this total, $1.8 billion was reportedly delivered by the end of 2025, with an additional $337 million deployed so far in 2026.
Photo credit: Lukas Wunderlich / Adobe Stock
Air Canada suspends flights to JFK airport due to jet fuel prices
Air Canada says it will suspend flights departing from Toronto and Montreal to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport starting June 1, until Oct. 25, due to rising jet fuel prices.
In a statement to CTV News, Air Canada says, “as jet fuel prices have doubled since the start of the Iran conflict and some lower profitability routes and flights are no longer economic,” the airline is “making schedule adjustments accordingly.”
Focus on Health & Safety
Listen up — Why hearing health should be in the toolbox for tradespeople
Katie Koebel, Daily Commercial News
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.
