In this edition:
- Inflation slowed to 1.9% in November, but prices for essentials remain elevated
- Government highlights investments while critics call out “lack of fiscal accountability”
- Height reductions proposed for Niagara Street development in Welland
- Town of Lincoln approves 2025 Budget with 2.91% levy increase
- West Lincoln receives over $1.2M through Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund
- Temporary immigration slows while permanent numbers hold steady
- Honda and Nissan to start talks on potential mega-merger
- Focus on International Trade
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Image credit: AddMeshCube / Adobe Stock
Do businesses legally have to take part in the GST tax holiday?
Five days into the government-mandated GST holiday, small-business owners across the country remain confused about how to apply the new rules — or whether they even have to.
Canada Revenue Agency would only say that “businesses who make reasonable efforts to comply with the legislation will not be the focus of our compliance actions.”
Picture credit: hyotographics / Adobe Stock
MPP Oosterhoff announces completion of broadband infrastructure projects in Niagara
Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West, announced the successful completion of three fibre-optic broadband infrastructure projects in Niagara this week. As part of the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology 1.0 initiative, these projects have brought high-speed Internet access to 5,406 previously underserved homes and businesses across the region.
Picture credit: Regional Municipality of Niagara
Niagara municipalities taking over planning responsibilities from region
Niagara municipalities are in the process of assessing the impacts of changes to land-use planning matters, as dictated by the province.
As part of the 2024 Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, on March 31, 2025, Niagara Region will become an upper-tier municipality without planning responsibilities. This means most land-use planning matters will be downloaded to lower-tier municipalities.
Photo credit: Backcountry Media / Adobe Stock
What’s happening with the $250 rebate cheques for working Canadians the Trudeau government proposed?
Trudeau first announced the proposed $250 rebate Nov. 21, and it would have been delivered to 18.7 million Canadians in early spring 2025. It would have cost more than $4.6 billion to provide the rebate.
But since that initial rebate was announced, Trudeau had a tough time convincing other parties to support the payout.
Photo credit: reme80 / Adobe Stock
Non-residential construction posts gains but cannot offset residential slowdown in October
In October, investment in the residential building construction sector decreased by $312.3 million to $14.9 billion, while investment in the non-residential sector rose by $69.0 million to $6.5 billion.
Overall, investment in building construction decreased 1.1% (-$243.3 million) to $21.4 billion in October, after a 2.6% increase in September.
Photo credit: Evgenia Parajanian / Adobe Stock
Canadian home sales continue to climb in November
Home sales activity recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems rose again in November, building on October’s surprise jump.
Sales were up 2.8% in November compared to October, and now stand a cumulative 18.4% above where they were in May, just before the first interest rate cut in early June.
Government of Canada offers further details on border security plan
The Government of Canada has announced more details of its $1.3 billion investment to bolster security at the border and strengthen the immigration system, including new and expanded detection capacity to better detect illegal drugs, creating a new Canadian Drug Profiling Centre, and deploying new canine teams to intercept illegal drugs.
The announcement was likely made in response to statements made by President-Elect Trump, who has highlighted his concerns with the flow of illegal drugs and undocumented migrants across both American land borders.
Did you know?
The cost of a Christmas tree in Europe is less than a third of the cost in Canada.
Focus on Finance & Economy
FX strategist sees opportunities for the loonie amid political turmoil
Political uncertainty could bring about opportunities for the Canadian dollar, according to one strategist, who thinks early elections next year could potentially be a tailwind for the loonie.
The Canadian dollar was trading below 70 cents U.S. late Wednesday morning. On Tuesday Bloomberg News reported the loonie declined to its lowest value since March 2020 amid turmoil in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. It fell by another 0.5 per cent on Tuesday, beyond 1.43 per U.S. dollar. Additionally, declines in Canada’s currency have taken place alongside a lagging economy and tariff threats from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
“Well, if you had a conservative led government in Canada, I think it would help the loonie regardless of the timing of that election, as long as that conservative-led government put in policies that were pro-growth, pro-market, eventually I think the loonie would recover,” Thierry Wizman, a global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Wednesday.
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.
