Canada will be added to United Kingdom’s green travel list at end of month
The United Kingdom will move Canada to its green travel list at 4 a.m. British Summer Time on August 30th. While travellers to and from green list countries still have to take a COVID-19 test before traveling and after arriving, they are not required to quarantine upon arrival unless the test is positive.
Click here for more information.
Town of Lincoln receives $23,000 from Digital Main Street to launch Digital Service Squad
The Town of Lincoln, supported by the Downtown Bench Beamsville BIA, has announced that it has received a $23,000 grant from Digital Main Street’s Ontario Grants Program for a Digital Service Squad (DSS), which will provide trained digital specialists to work with local small businesses to help them adopt online technologies and digitally transform their sales, marketing, and back-office operations. The squad will begin visiting businesses in Lincoln on Monday, August 30, 2021.
Click here for more information.
St. Catharines seeks new ideas for recreation programs
The City of St. Catharines is looking to the public to provide input, via an online survey, to help identify their preferences when it comes to recreation programming, but also to provide new ideas for novel recreation programs. Members of the public can visit engageSTC.ca/RecIdeas to provide their input.
Click here for more information.
Canadian payroll employment up by over 200,000 in June
Payroll employment rose by 214,800 (+1.3%) in June, driven by increases in the services-producing sector in Ontario and Quebec. At the same time, average weekly earnings fell, as job gains were concentrated in lower-paying industries.
In June, public health measures implemented against the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly eased. As a result, indoor and outdoor dining, recreation and cultural activities, retail shopping, and personal care services resumed or continued in most areas of the country, with varying degrees of capacity restrictions.
Click here for more information.
Provincial GO-VAXX bus to stop at Brock on September 9
A mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic will roll into Brock University Thursday, Sept. 9.
The Ontario government recently partnered with Metrolinx to temporarily convert two GO Transit buses into mobile vaccination clinics as part of its effort to get as many people in the province vaccinated as possible.
One of the two buses will be set up in the Zone 3 parking lot at the main Brock University campus from approximately 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 9 offering vaccines to students, faculty, staff and anyone from the wider community.
Click here for more information.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
Positive Living Niagara StreetWorks Program aims to inform on International Overdose Awareness Day
International Overdose Awareness Day is on August 31st. Positive Living Niagara’s StreetWorks Program aims to open the dialogue about substance use in the Region, and is selling shirts to raise funds for their Community Fund. In Niagara, there were 150 confirmed opioid-related deaths in 2020, or approximately 13 deaths per month. Preliminary numbers for 2021 indicate that this year may be more fatal than ever. In July 2021, Niagara EMS responded to a record breaking 105 overdoses throughout the Region.
Heat warning for Niagara to end tomorrow, may resume over weekend
Hot and humid conditions are expected to continue today. Daytime maximum temperatures are 30 to 32 degrees Celsius, with humidex values of 38 to 42. Nighttime minimum temperatures are 16 to 20 degrees Celsius. Slightly cooler and less humid air is expected on Friday, however, hot and humid conditions may return this weekend.
Click here for more information.
The Election Section
Niagara federal vote projections
| Niagara Centre | Niagara Falls | Niagara West | St. Catharines | Canada (338canada) | Canada (CBC) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloc Quebecois | 7% (32 seats) | 6.8% (31 seats) | ||||
| Conservative Party | 30% | 38% | 46% | 32% | 31.4% (126 seats) | 31% (119 seats) |
| Green Party | 3% | 3.7% | 3.9% | 3.5% | 3.4% (2 seats) | 3.5% (1 seat) |
| Liberal Party | 35% | 31% | 29% | 36% | 31.9% (148 seats) | 31.5% (155 seats) |
| New Democratic Party | 24% | 21% | 14% | 23% | 19.3% (31 seats) | 19.1% (32 seats) |
| People's Party | 7.6% | 6% | 6.5% | 5.8% | 6% (0 seats) | 7% (0 seats) |
| Christian Heritage | - | - | 1.1% | - | - | - |
Data are provided by 338canada.com using an aggregate of polls. Projections are updated daily. Click here for more information and margins of error.
Download the Canadian Chamber’s policy tracker, which summarizes party commitments made to date.
GNCC Niagara Prosperity Plan: Getting everyone over the COVID finish line
Many small enterprises and businesses in the hardest-hit sectors, including tourism, travel and hospitality, will not recover until public health restrictions are lifted and economic activity returns to normal. Until that time comes, these fellow Canadians require ongoing support.
The GNCC is asking all parties to introduce debt relief by forgiving interest payments and delaying repayment on COVID-related government backed loans for SMEs in the hardest-hit sectors. Businesses still suffering revenue loss from the pandemic, such as those in Niagara’s prominent hospitality sector, should have their grace periods extended and additional portions of their credit forgiven. This measure should apply to the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) and the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP).
Click here to read more about the GNCC’s Niagara Prosperity Plan.
Conservatives continue to close gap on Liberals
CBC News
Since the beginning of the campaign, there has been a five-point swing between the Liberals and Conservatives, closing the gap between the two parties and increasing the odds that another minority government — more likely Liberal but possibly Conservative — will be elected. The NDP’s support is up since the last election and the party might be the only one that makes significant seat gains. The Bloc Québécois vote remains below 2019 levels, while the Greens continue to slide. The People’s Party sits at 3.9 per cent.
Mail-in voting: How to know your ballot is safe
CBC News
Elections Canada is prepared to receive up to five million mail-in ballots in this year’s federal election. To put that into perspective, only around 50,000 mail-in ballots were cast in 2019.
With millions of votes expected to arrive by mail, many readers have been asking us about the security of mail-in ballots.
Elections Canada has measures in place to prevent voter fraud and people attempting to vote once by mail and then again on election day.
For example, once your application for a special ballot is accepted — which you’ll need to vote by mail — your name is struck from the voter list that’s kept at the polls.
Reading Recommendations
Canada’s ruling Liberals vow higher taxes on big bank profits to help fund COVID-19 recovery
Reuters
Canada’s ruling Liberal Party said on Wednesday that if re-elected it would raise corporate taxes on the most profitable banks and insurers to help pay for the cost of the COVID-19 recovery.
The Liberals said they would hike the rate to 18% from 15% on all earnings over C$1 billion ($793 million) and vowed to establish a special dividend, so that those same institutions contribute more. The measures are expected to generate C$2.5 billion per year over four years, starting in 2022/23.
TD sees weaker growth in provinces that shun vaccine passports
BNN Bloomberg
Economists at Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest lender, are warning provinces that refuse to implement vaccine passports will be hit hardest by a fourth-wave of COVID-19 cases.
Beata Caranci, the bank’s chief economist, said her group could cut its fourth-quarter forecasts for Ontario and other provinces that don’t have plans to limit high-risk activities for people who are not vaccinated. That’s because those regions are more likely to resort to lockdowns or other restrictions on business activity.
Niagara COVID-19 statistics tracker
These data show the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in Niagara. The Province of Ontario is now using a provincewide approach to reopening, and these data no longer have any influence on Niagara’s restrictions. Lower numbers are better in all metrics.
| December 18 | December 25 | January 1 | January 8 | January 15 | January 22 | January 29 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive number | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| New cases per 100,000 | 101.2 | 267.3 | 469.8 | 575.8 | 507.1 | 295.5 | 250.6 |
| New cases per day (not including outbreaks) | 60.7 | 178.7 | 311.7 | 376.9 | 325.4 | 182.7 | 145.7 |
| Percent of hospital beds occupied | 97% | 95.2% | 98.2% | 103.2% | 104.5% | 103.6% | 106% |
| Percent of intensive care beds occupied | 78.8% | 77.3% | 87.9% | 87.9% | 90.9% | 89.4% | 93.9% |
| Percentage of positive tests | 6.1% | 15.6% | 28.1% | 28.6% | 26.6% | 21.2% | 16.2% |
Last updated: August 21, 2021
Click here for definitions of terms used in this table.
There are currently 5 patients admitted to Niagara Health with COVID-19. There are currently 3 patients with COVID-19 in a Niagara Health Intensive Care Unit.
Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health and Niagara Health.
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker
Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.
| Percentage of population with one dose | Percentage of population fully vaccinated | |
|---|---|---|
| Niagara | 82.7% | 78.2% |
| Ontario | 84.6% | 79.1% |
| Canada | 84.7% | 78.6% |
| United States | 75% | 64% |
| United Kingdom | 78% | 72% |
| Germany | 76% | 74% |
| France | 80% | 77% |
| Italy | 83% | 76% |
| Japan | 80% | 79% |
| World | 63% | 53% |
Total doses administered in Niagara: 656,028
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 1,125
Last updated: August 26, 2021
Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.
Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses. Visit gncc.ca/workplace-self-screening-kits to learn more and reserve kits for your organization.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here. The GNCC is here to support you. Contact us with any questions you have.
