In this edition:
- Ontario government invests $1.3B to stabilize post-secondary finances
- Majority of businesses expect to face cost-related obstacles in Q2 2024
- Niagara College to host DSBN’s 26th Annual Technological Skills Challenge
- Alectra employees shine bright during Coldest Night of the Year
- Canadian Chamber “concerned” over Liberal-NDP pharmacare deal
- Focus on Human Resources
Ontario government invests $1.3B to stabilize post-secondary finances
Today, the Ontario government introduced a suite of measures to stabilize the province’s colleges and universities, including nearly $1.3 billion in new funding. The government also indicated that it would extend the tuition fee freeze for publicly assisted colleges and universities for at least three more years.
The province is also introducing the Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act, 2024 that would, if passed, authorize the Minister to issue directives requiring colleges and universities to provide information about ancillary fees and other students costs.
Majority of businesses expect to face cost-related obstacles in Q2 2024
Nearly three-quarters (73.6%) of all businesses expect to face cost-related obstacles over the next three months, the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions found. More than half (55.4%) of all businesses expect rising inflation to be an obstacle, making it the leading challenge businesses expect to face. Businesses in accommodation and food services (74.6%), transportation and warehousing (62.2%), and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (61.8%) were most likely to expect challenges related to rising inflation.
Niagara College to host DSBN’s 26th Annual Technological Skills Challenge
On February 28, Niagara College (NC) will host 350 Niagara high school students as they compete across many different disciplines in the District School Board of Niagara’s (DSBN) 26th annual Technological Skills Challenge.
Students from 16 DSBN secondary schools will compete in 30 challenges at both the Welland Campus and the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Challenges will demonstrate students’ skills in everything from precision machining to floristry and 2D character animation to carpentry, culinary arts, plumbing, robotics, welding and more.
Alectra employees shine bright during Coldest Night of the Year
Over 100 Alectra employees braved the cold temperatures and united with their communities to participate in the Coldest Night of the Year walk, contributing over $25,000 to support essential services for people in need of food and shelter.
The fundraising event marks a pivotal moment when tens of thousands of Canadians, including Alectra employees from St. Catharines, Brampton, Guelph, Hamilton, Markham, Mississauga, Richmond Hill and Vaughan, step out of their cozy confines to help fight homelessness.
Canadian Chamber “concerned” over Liberal-NDP pharmacare deal
Today, Kathy Megyery, Senior Vice President, and policy lead for life sciences and health innovation at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said that the Liberal-NDP announcement of a pharmacare deal was “concerning in that it appears to lay the foundation for a national single-payer pharmacare program.
“A single-payer system is a complicated and costly solution, which has been estimated to cost up to $38.9 billion within three years.”
Did you know?
Focus on Human Resources
New research debunks the ‘unhappy worker’ narrative, but finds most still believe it
As a sociologist who studies how people think and feel about work, I’ve been struck by the unflattering cultural narrative that has intensified around work in recent years.
The so-called “Great Resignation” of 2021 and 2022 saw an increase in anti-work rhetoric and the onset of the “quiet quitting” trend — a variation on the “work to rule” concept where employees do no more than the bare minimum required by contract. Quitting was also described as being fun and contagious.
A Wall Street Journal headline from November 2023 summarized the sentiment aptly: “Why is Everyone So Unhappy at Work Right Now?”
We’re told “work won’t love you back” and that loving your job is a “capitalist trap.” Long-suffering workers reached their breaking point, according to some news commentators, in what has been called the anti-work movement. Some interpreted the tumult in the labour market as evidence that workers were simultaneously fed up and empowered to seek better working conditions.
But not all commentators have bought into this narrative. Reflecting on the Great Resignation, American journalist Derek Thompson found “workers are more satisfied than the internet would have you believe.”
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.
