In this edition:
- Creating apartments above downtown St. Catharines businesses now comes with a financial boost
- Niagara tourism industry dealing with upended travel patterns
- TIAO launches strategic playbook for Ontario’s tourism industry
- Ontario forecasted to build less than half of 1.5M homes pledged by 2031
- Ontario public service returning to office full time
- Strengthening Indigenous procurement essential to reconciliation, says new report
- Auto parts manufacturers say they’ve avoided the worst of tariffs
- Focus on Finance & Economy
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Picture credit: St. Catharines downtown association
Creating apartments above downtown St. Catharines businesses now comes with a financial boost
Downtown St. Catharines building owners who want to create apartments above their stores can get up to $150,000 in the latest move by the city to incentivize more housing.
Council approved the Downtown Forgivable Loan Program this week which offers building owners “loans” they don’t actually have to pay back if they follow all the rules.
Photo credit: Niagara Parks Commission
Niagara tourism industry dealing with upended travel patterns
Despite fewer U.S. visitors, Niagara’s tourist attractions are hopeful of a stronger second half to the prime summer season.
“I thought a few months ago that we were going to have a stronger second half of summer than the first half,” said Niagara Parks chief executive officer David Adames.
Picture credit: Marcel / Adobe Stock
TIAO launches strategic playbook for Ontario’s tourism industry
The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) has launched Forward Motion – A Strategic Playbook for Ontario’s Tourism Industry (2025 – 2030), a forward-looking strategy that “charts a bold course to drive investment, attract talent, diversify and grow markets, and strengthen Ontario’s visitor economy.”
Picture credit: Svjatoslav / Adobe Stock
Ontario forecasted to build less than half of 1.5M homes pledged by 2031
Ontario is on track to miss its 2031 target of 1.5 million new homes by a staggering 708,000 units if current building trends persist, according to new forecasts.
Ontario’s pledge to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031 is facing a widening reality gap, with new forecasts showing the province could fall hundreds of thousands of units short, even after once again broadening its own definition of what counts as a “home.”
Picture credit: SeanPavonePhoto / Adobe Stock
Ontario public service returning to office full time
Effective January 5, 2026, the Ontario Public Service and its provincial agencies, boards and commission public bodies will return to the office full time.
Based on the nature of their work, over half of the Ontario Public Service are already required to attend the workplace full time.
Picture credit: Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Strengthening Indigenous procurement essential to reconciliation, says new report
Strengthening Indigenous participation in both public and private procurement is essential to accelerating reconciliation, according to a new report from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB).
Despite being a vital part of Canada’s economy, with an estimated 74,000 to 115,000 Indigenous enterprises, many businesses continue to face systemic barriers to procurement opportunities.
Picture credit: Tomasz Zajda / Adobe Stock
Auto parts manufacturers say they’ve avoided the worst of tariffs
Canadian auto parts companies say the current North American trade agreement is helping them manage headwinds from south of the border, even as tariff disruptions intensified over the past months.
With recent earnings reports from Martinrea International Inc. and Linamar Corp., both firms highlighted compliance with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement as a source of shelter from the harsh tariffs imposed by the United States.
Focus on Finance & Economy
Is the stock market in an AI bubble?
Peter Armstrong, CBC News
Stock markets surged again this week, reaching new all-time highs. Yet again, gains in financial markets were driven by a handful of companies focused on artificial intelligence.
Tech giants like Meta and Nvidia have seen their values soar while investors wait breathlessly for OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity to go public.
But for all the enthusiasm, some investors are worried. They say we’ve been down this road before. And they’re pointing to the dot-com bubble in the 1990s, when tech companies skyrocketed in value, only to see the bubble burst in early 2000.
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.
