In this edition:
- Industrial product prices up 7.6% year-over-year
- Niagara Falls receives $4.4m from OLG for hosting casinos
- St. Catharines among first 25 cities to see return of Zellers
- Niagara College Motus tower project gets flying start with donor support
- PenFinancial cautions members about hacking attempts
Industrial product prices up 7.6% year-over-year
In December, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) declined 1.1% month over month and was up 7.6% year over year. Prices for energy and petroleum products (-9.8%) fell for a second consecutive month in December, leading the monthly decrease in the IPPI. Compared with December 2021, prices were up 31.8%. Lower prices for finished motor gasoline (-14.6%) and diesel fuel (-8.7%) were mainly responsible for the monthly decline in this group.
Prices for softwood lumber (-8.9%) posted a fifth consecutive monthly decline in December 2022. On a yearly basis, prices were down 40.2% in December, the largest year-over-year drop on record since the start of the series in January 1956. The decline was mainly due to a slowing residential housing market in the US, which coincided with rising interest rates in the country.
Niagara Falls receives $4.4m from OLG for hosting casinos
Niagara Falls has received $4.4m from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation for hosting Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara. So far, during OLG’s fiscal year – which runs April 2022 to March 2023 – the city has received $15.9m.
Since the first casino opened in December 1996, Niagara Falls has received $190m.
The OLG makes payments to host communities using a graduated scale of gaming revenue at the casinos.
St. Catharines among first 25 cities to see return of Zellers
St. Catharines has made the list as one of the planned locations for the return of Zellers, a decade after the retail chain closed its doors nationwide.
Hudson’s Bay will be hosting in-store experiences featuring the signature red and white Canadian brand at 25 locations across the country. The Pen Centre is just one of nine shopping centres in Ontario that will host an in-store experience.
Expected to be between 8,000 to 10,000 square feet, depending on the location, the store experiences will include home decor, toys, baby, apparel and pet products.
Niagara College Motus tower project gets flying start with donor support
A donation from a local nature club is helping Niagara College Ecosystem Restoration students spread their wings when it comes to tracking bird migration.
The Niagara Falls Nature Club is the most recent supporter of the College’s Motus tower project, which tracks the flight patterns of migratory birds and works in conjunction with hundreds of others across North and South America. The tower was installed last year at NC’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and has recently become operational and online, connected to Birds Canada’s server.
PenFinancial cautions members about hacking attempts
On January 11, 2023, PenFinancial identified attempts to gain access to member accounts through Online Banking, targeting accounts with weak passwords. Unfortunately, these types of attacks are becoming increasingly common-place, affecting not only financial institutions, but also other companies and organizations that hold personal data criminals look to access.
PenFinancial is continuing their investigation and can confirm that only a limited number of members have been impacted.
Focus on Climate
Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
he forest carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading provider and used by Disney, Shell, Gucci and other big corporations are largely worthless and could make global heating worse, according to a new investigation.
The research into Verra, the world’s leading carbon standard for the rapidly growing $2bn (£1.6bn) voluntary offsets market, has found that, based on analysis of a significant percentage of the projects, more than 90% of their rainforest offset credits – among the most commonly used by companies – are likely to be “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions.
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.
