In this edition:
- Province launches Protect Ontario Program with $1 billion in business funding
- Arterra Wines celebrates 150 years of Canadian winemaking
- Buy Canadian shopping trend starting to lose some steam, says Metro CEO
- Beamsville-based grower receives North American award
- Brock-led research drives breakthrough in predicting dementia risk
- West Lincoln supports Elect Respect pledge
- Ford government’s new recycling law doesn’t cover stores and restaurants
- Welland council reverses course, greenlights Civic Square redesign
- “We do not dump canola,” says Government of Canada
- Bank of Canada notes economy has shown resilience, unsure on rate policy
- Air Canada says it will begin cancelling flights ahead of possible weekend strike
- Focus on Human Resources
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The Honourable Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade | Picture credit: Brad Demers / GNCC
Province launches Protect Ontario Financing Program with $1 billion in business funding
Today, the Ontario government launched the Protect Ontario Financing Program, the first phase of the $5 billion Protecting Ontario Account that was announced in the 2025 provincial Budget. The Protect Ontario Financing Program will provide Ontario-based businesses that have been impacted by higher (section 232) tariff rates, with up to $1 billion in liquidity support in the form of loans to protect workers and operations.
To help Ontario-based businesses determine if they are eligible for funding under the Protect Ontario Financing Program, the province is launching a website.
Picture credit: Del Rollo
Arterra Wines celebrates 150 years of Canadian winemaking
Picture credit: amazing studio / Adobe Stock
Buy Canadian shopping trend starting to lose some steam, says Metro CEO
Consumers are still seeking local products, but executives at one of Canada’s biggest grocers say the buy Canadian movement is starting to lose some steam.
“It’s decelerating somewhat,” Metro Inc. chief executive Eric La Flèche told analysts during a third-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday.
Picture credit: Greenhouse Management
Beamsville-based grower receives North American award
Belal El-Hasan, head grower at Hendriks in Beamsville, was among seven North American professionals awarded the 2025 Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards (HILA), an initiative spearheaded by U.S.-based publications Greenhouse Management and Nursery Management.
The annual honour, now in its ninth year, seeks to highlight the work of individuals across the greenhouse and nursery growing sector.
Brock University PhD student Shakiru Alaka (left) and Canada Research Chair in Mechanisms of Health and Disease Newman Sze | Picture credit: Brock University
Brock-led research drives breakthrough in predicting dementia risk
A Brock-led international research team has found that including an additional metric —resting heart rate — to an established dementia risk prediction model can make its results more accurate across most racial groups, says Professor of Health Sciences Newman Sze.
Click here to read more.
Photo credit: Township of West Lincoln
West Lincoln supports Elect Respect pledge
At its August 11 meeting, West Lincoln Council unanimously supported the Elect Respect Pledge. Niagara Regional Council supported the Elect Respect pledge on July 24, 2025.
The Elect Respect campaign was launched by Halton Elected Representatives (HER), to promote the importance of a healthy democracy and safe, inclusive, respectful work environments for all elected officials that encourages individuals to participate in the political process.
Photo credit: c_atta / Adobe Stock
Ford government’s new recycling law doesn’t cover stores and restaurants — so some may find they can no longer recycle at all
Thousands of tons of recyclables could end up in landfills next year if municipalities opt out of running expensive collection services for businesses and institutions not covered by the Ontario legislation that privatized residential recycling.
Regional Chair Jim Bradley said it would be too expensive for the region to continue separate collection limited to institutions and businesses after Jan. 1, when the last group of municipalities will have transitioned to the new privatized residential model.
The GNCC is currently working with Niagara Region staff on potential solutions for local businesses.
Picture credit: City of Welland
Welland council reverses course, greenlights Civic Square redesign
Welland council reversed course and will move forward with a $1.6-million redesign of Civic Square, overturning a decision to scrap the project.
It came after Ward 3 Coun. John Chiocchio — who voted against the idea in July — changed his position and asked council to reconsider.
Picture credit: Maya Kruchancova / Adobe Stock
“We do not dump canola,” says Government of Canada in response to Chinese tariffs
“Canada is deeply disappointed with China’s decision to implement provisional anti-dumping duties in its self-initiated investigation into imports of canola seed from Canada,” said the Honourable Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade, and the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in a statement last night.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce called not only for a swift resolution to the trade dispute, but asked for government support of canola farmers until that time.
Photo credit: Elena Berd /Adobe Stock
Bank of Canada notes economy has shown resilience, but unsure on interest rate policy
Members of the Governing Council of the Bank of Canada recently agreed that, so far, the global economy had shown more resilience to the trade turmoil than had been expected. However, uncertainty over the future of trade and the economy made it difficult to forecast inflation and decide on a future policy rate.
Photo credit: SockaGPhoto / Adobe Stock
Air Canada says it will begin cancelling flights ahead of possible weekend strike
Air Canada says it will begin cancelling flights on Thursday ahead of a potential strike that could see more than 10,000 flight attendants walk off the job this weekend.
The country’s largest airline said the gradual suspension of flights — which would see more cancellations on Friday, before a complete cessation of flying by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge by the weekend — would allow for an orderly shutdown.
Focus on Human Resources
Should the feds or provinces call the shots on finding economic immigrants?
Marco Vigliotti, iPolitics
Canada’s premiers signed off on a joint statement last month demanding that Ottawa restore their allocations for provincial nominee immigrant programs that were slashed by 50 per cent, as part of a broader call for greater control over immigration policy.
The premiers say they should be able to select people who meet their province’s unique economic needs, particularly as the federal government looks to reduce the number of new immigrants admitted to Canada.
Since their introduction in the late 1990s, provincial nominee programs have collectively become the biggest pathway to entry for economic immigrants. In 2023, the programs accounted for 40 per cent of all economic immigrants to Canada — up from 1 per cent in 2000.
But there are some sharp regional differences. While provincial nominees made up 93 per cent of new economic immigrants in Saskatchewan and 85 per cent of those in Manitoba in 2023, it was only 21 per cent in Ontario, the top destination for newcomers.
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.
