In this edition:
- Ontario invests $20M in festivals and events
- Port Colborne allocates $20K in grants to local organizations
- Niagara Falls to hold mourning ceremony for injured and fallen workers
- Overseas trips to Canada drop for fifth month running
- Ontario’s labour market continued to moderate in 2024, says FAO
- Trump floats automobile tariff increase for Canada
- Lindt stockpiling chocolate in Canada amid tariff uncertainty
- Hudson’s Bay now plans to liquidate the 6 stores it hoped to save
- Focus on Finance & Economy
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Picture credit: Drazen / Adobe Stock
Ontario invests $20M in festivals and events
The Ontario government is investing nearly $20 million in more than 350 festivals and events across the province this year. The funding, made through Experience Ontario 2025, will help boost tourism, strengthen local economies and celebrate the best of Ontario’s communities.
Picture credit: City of Port Colborne
Port Colborne allocates $20K in grants to local organizations
Inclusive hockey training, lighthouse preservation and animal welfare are just a few of the things Port Colborne is investing in by awarding more than $20,000 to five local organizations this spring.
The funding comes from the city’s community grant program, which began in 2001 using funds from the sale of Port Colborne Hydro to Canadian Niagara Power.
Picture credit: gitusik / Adobe Stock
Niagara Falls to hold mourning ceremony for injured and fallen workers
A ceremony will be held at Niagara Falls City Hall on Monday, April 28, 2025, to commemorate workers who have suffered work-related disability, disease and death.
All flags will be flown at half-staff at City facilities that day.
Picture credit: photobyphotoboy / Adobe Stock
Overseas trips to Canada drop for fifth month running
In February, trips to Canada by US residents decreased 5.3% year over year to 1.1 million trips. The number of trips to Canada by overseas residents fell 17.2%, the sharpest decline in a stretch of five consecutive months of year-over-year declines, which began in October 2024.
Photo credit: Platoo Studio / Adobe Stock
Ontario’s labour market continued to moderate in 2024, says FAO
The pace of Ontario’s job creation continued to moderate in 2024 with employment rising by 140,000 (1.7 per cent), down from 242,000 jobs (3.1 per cent) added in 2023 and record gains in 2021 and 2022. Job creation did not keep pace with the increase in the number of people looking for work, causing the annual unemployment rate in Ontario to increase to 7.0 per cent in 2024, up from 5.6 per cent in 2023 and the highest since 2014 (excluding the pandemic period).
Picture credit: Tomasz Zajda / Adobe Stock
Trump floats automobile tariff increase for Canada
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that at some point the automobile tariffs slapped on Canadian imports could increase while also indicating his administration is working on a deal with Canada.
“I put tariffs on Canada, they are paying 25 per cent but that could go up in terms of cars,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “When we put tariffs on, all we are doing is we are saying, ‘We don’t want your cars, in all due respect.”’
Picture credit: rosinka79 / Adobe Stock
Lindt stockpiling chocolate in Canada amid tariff uncertainty
Chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli says it’s increasing its stockpiles of product in Canada amid uncertainty over the unfolding tariff situation with the U.S.
President Donald Trump enacted tariffs on Canada and Mexico earlier this year, only to delay some of them shortly after, and more recently imposed sweeping tariffs on many countries before delaying some of those, too.
Picture credit: Canmenwalker / CC BY 4.0
Hudson’s Bay now plans to liquidate the 6 stores it hoped to save
Hudson’s Bay, the world’s oldest continuously operating company, could cease to exist after its financial adviser determined there’s a “low probability” of finding a buyer for six locations the retailer had hoped to save.
According to a new court filing cited in reporting by The Canadian Press, Hudson’s Bay can begin selling off all merchandise on Friday (April 25) at six stores that were previously spared from liquidation.
Focus on Finance & Economy
How can we rebuild the Canadian economy? Business leaders say there are 4 priorities
Whoever wins Monday’s election will have an enormous task of rebuilding the Canadian economy after years of stagnation — and in the face of an escalating trade war with the United States.
They’ll have their work cut out for them. But CEOs and industry leaders say these twin crises offer what many industry leaders are calling a generational opportunity. In interviews and speeches through this campaign, they’ve raised concerns, flagged opportunities and charted out what they think politicians should do once the campaign is over.
Party leaders agree on many (but not all) ways to get the economy off the mat. Here are four steps either party in the running to form government could take to spur much-needed economic growth.
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.
