In this edition:
Government of Canada announces partnership to establish Business Data Lab
Next steps on Trans Mountain Expansion Project
Retail sales fall 1.8% in December
Tolls on Highways 412, 418 to be removed
City of St. Catharines defines limits for appropriate cannabis production
Government of Canada announces partnership between Statistics Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce to establish Business Data Lab to provide enhanced insight on business conditions
Over the past few years, the business landscape in Canada has been evolving rapidly. For this reason, the Government of Canada and its key partners need to have better data on the state of small business in Canada so the government and the business community can make strategic and meaningful contributions that lead to an even stronger economic recovery.
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, on behalf of the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, announced an investment of $2.8 million to establish the Business Data Lab (BDL), a partnership between the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Statistics Canada. The BDL will provide future-focused, timely business indicators crucial to helping governments, business associations and entrepreneurs from all regions of Canada identify future growth opportunities for Canadian businesses.
The BDL will help enhance the availability of data on Canada’s business sector. It will also offer regular monitoring, with timely data on business conditions, expectations, obstacles and opportunities for growth. It will provide detailed results based on characteristics such as industry and geography as well as company size, age and ownership.
Federal government announces next steps on Trans Mountain Expansion Project
Today, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, announced next steps in light of the revised cost estimate and completion timeline published by Trans Mountain Corporation (TMC) for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (the project).
With 50 per cent of the pipeline already built, the Deputy Prime Minister indicated that the government will spend no additional public money on the project, and that TMC will instead secure the funding necessary to complete the project with third-party financing, either in the public debt markets or with financial institutions.
The government has engaged both BMO Capital Markets and TD Securities to provide advice on financial aspects of the project. Their analyses indicates that public financing for the project is a feasible option that can be implemented promptly.
Retail sales fell 1.8% in December amid severe flooding, Omicron spread
Statistics Canada announced that retail sales fell 1.8 per cent to $57 billion in December as the spread of the Omicron variant and severe flooding in British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces disrupted transportation, retail operations and sales.
Sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores were down 9.5 per cent while furniture and home furnishings stores recorded an 11.3 per cent drop in sales.
Core retail sales – which exclude gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers – decreased 2.4 per cent.
Given the rapidly evolving economic situation, Statistics Canada is providing an advance estimate of retail sales, which suggests that sales increased 2.4% in January 2022. Owing to its early nature, this figure will be revised. This unofficial estimate was calculated based on responses received from 41.7% of companies surveyed. The average final response rate for the survey over the previous 12 months has been 90.0%.
Ontario Government removing tolls on Highways 412 and 418
The Ontario government is permanently removing tolls on Highways 412 and 418, effective April 5, 2022.
Highways 412 and 418 are currently the only tolled north-south highways in Ontario. Removing tolls will provide more travel options for local residents, relieve gridlock on local roads, and is meant to help improve economic competitiveness for local businesses.
City of St. Catharines defines limits for appropriate cannabis production
The City of St. Catharines is taking steps to ensure that cannabis production facilities are appropriately located and operated in the community, offsetting potential negative impacts of such facilities.
City Council approved several staff recommendations for amendments to the City’s official plan, zoning by-law and site plan control by-law to identify permitted locations of new cannabis production facilities and offset negative impacts to the community. Establishing new facilities in St. Catharines’ agricultural areas has been on hold since early 2020 when an interim control by-law was enacted to provide time for the City to undertake a cannabis operations study and develop regulations surrounding cannabis production. The interim control by-law cannot be legally extended further.
Reading Recommendations
Several provinces are dropping vaccine passports, but some businesses aren’t on board
CBC News
Several provinces are dropping their COVID-19 vaccine passport programs for entry to restaurants, gyms and other venues, leaving it up to individual businesses to decide if they want to open their doors to unvaccinated customers.
“You’re kind of making businesses choose one side of the fence themselves, where previously governments made that choice for them,” said Toronto-based retail consultant Bruce Winder.
“It’s going to be a tough one for businesses, because it’s such a polarizing topic right now.”
Although most businesses are expected to drop their vaccine requirements in line with the provinces, not all are following suit — despite the possibility that they could face a backlash.
Dave Kantor, owner of The Cave Beastro in Edmonton, said he decided to keep his restaurant’s vaccine mandate in place because he felt it was premature for Alberta to drop the requirement.
Inflation drop as supply crisis eases is ‘fairy tale economics’
BNN Bloomberg
A Canadian strategist said anyone who thinks inflation will be tamed by the easing of supply chain pressures is a believer in “fairy tale economics.”
In an interview on Thursday, Royce Mendes, managing director and head of macro strategy at Desjardins, said “inflation is clearly no longer just a supply issue.”
“Anyone hoping the easing of supply chains will push inflation all the way back down to the two per cent target this year is, I think, engaged in ‘fairy tale economics.’”
Mendes pointed to factors such as the price of 80 per cent of items measured by the consumer price index basket rising faster than two per cent a year, the price of two-thirds of those items rising more than three per cent a year, home prices continuing to surge, and services inflation rising at the fastest pace in years.
He also noted that the most recent reading of the unemployment rate, were it not for Omicron, would have fallen below six per cent.
Niagara COVID-19 statistics tracker
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker
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.
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.
