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Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Daily Update: August 15, 2022

In this edition:


GNCC welcomes Minister Mona Fortier

On August 19 at Lundy Manor Wine Cellars, President of the Treasury Board of Canada the Honourable Mona Fortier will join the GNCC for a keynote address and a meet-and-greet event.

Minister Fortier is focused on making life more affordable for Canadians, protecting the environment, and helping businesses prosper. She is a strong advocate for linguistic duality and always searches for the right balance between prosperity and social justice.

For more information and tickets, click here.


Brock appoints new President and Vice-Chancellor

Lesley Rigg, a highly accomplished academic leader, research scientist and professor, is Brock’s next President and Vice-Chancellor.

Rigg assumes her new role Nov. 1 following an international search for the next University President. A highly skilled forest ecologist and biogeographer, she currently serves as Vice-President (Research) and Professor of Geography at Western University in London, Ont.

Prior to arriving at Western, she served as Dean of the Faculty of Science and Professor, Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary, where she led one of the largest Faculties on campus spanning six departments and five multidisciplinary programs.

Click here to read more.


Canadian home sales slow further in July

Home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems fell by 5.3% between June and July 2022. While this was the fifth consecutive month-over-month decline in housing activity, it was also the smallest of the five.

Sales were down in about three-quarters of all local markets, led by the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, Calgary and Edmonton.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions in July 2022 came in 29.3% below that same month last year.

Click here to read more.


Wholesale sales rise slightly in June

In June, wholesale sales rose 0.1% to $80.7 billion, the ninth increase in the past 12 months. Growth was recorded as a result of increases in two of seven subsectors—miscellaneous and motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsectors—which account for 30% of wholesale sales.

Constant dollar sales fell 0.1% in June.

Click here to read more.


Manufacturing sales fall again

Following a 1.1% decline in May, manufacturing sales fell 0.8% to $71.8 billion in June, on lower sales in 8 of 21 industries, led by the petroleum and coal product (-7.8%), wood product (-7.2%) and aerospace product and parts (-16.8%) industries. Meanwhile, sales of motor vehicles (+13.8%) and chemical products (+6.0%) increased the most.

Click here to read more.



<h2″>ArriveCan modified to allow one-time exemption for vaccinated travellers, app remains mandatory

The Canadian government is allowing COVID-19-vaccinated travellers entering the country by land border a one-time exemption from quarantine, testing and fines if they fail to enter their information on the ArriveCan app.

But the Canada Border Services Agency emphasizes that use of the digital tool – through either the app or website – remains mandatory. Those who are granted the exemption still need to provide their public-health information to a border services officer.

Click here to read more.

Disclosure: the GNCC is currently lobbying for remaining COVID-related border restrictions, including but not limited to the use of the ArriveCAN app, to be lifted.


Average Canadian rent climbs 10.4% year-over-year

The average rent for all Canadian properties listed on Rentals.ca in July 2022 was $1,934 per month, up 10.4% annually, and up 2.6% monthly. The average rental rate is now just $20 per month cheaper than the market peak in September of 2019.

The median rental rate was $1,799 per month in July 2022, up from $1,750 in June of this year, and up 9% from the $1,649 per month in July of last year.

Click here to read more.


Ontario proposes 2% raise for lower-paid education workers

Ontario is proposing to give education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees who make less than $40,000 a two-per-cent raise per year.

For workers who earn over that amount, the government proposes giving them raises of 1.25 per cent each year of a four-year deal.

CUPE – which represents 55,000 workers including early childhood educators, school administration workers, bus drivers and custodians – has published the government’s first offer to them in contract negotiations.

Click here to read more.


Canada Summer Games continue

Click here for a list of events, times, and locations.


Focus on Small Business

How to Get Ready for The Next Recession

Small Business Trends

A hot topic among small business owners is that a new recession is coming or the country is already in a recession. With inflation being so high, but unemployment so low, some economists want to change the definition of a recession (two consecutive quarterly drops in GDP). The recent decrease in the monthly unemployment rate only confuses the situation when a lot of big tech companies like Amazon and Spotify are laying their employees off.

Click here to read more.


Government of Canada to offer loans of up to $50,000 to women entrepreneurs and business owners

Government of Canada

Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, announced that Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC) will be providing loans of up to $50,000 to women entrepreneurs and business owners this fall through the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund.

WEOC will deliver the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund through its regional loan fund partners. They will work with women entrepreneurs at every stage of the application process and deliver top-quality wraparound business support, including helping applicants with the development of viable business plans and providing advisory services, training and loan aftercare.

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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