In this edition:
- St. Catharines secures $25.7M housing investment from Government of Canada
- Competition Bureau warns businesses about potential liability from employee reviews
- St. Catharines hospital gets a new name
- Government of Ontario invests in Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada
- Welland funds temporary eight-bed shelter for February and March
- Investment in building construction increases
- Canada challenges U.S. decision to maintain softwood lumber duties
- Focus on Climate
St. Catharines secures $25.7M housing investment from Government of Canada
On Jan. 17, 2024, St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle announced an investment of $25.7 million to boost housing supply in St. Catharines. The funding is through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), a $4 billion initiative that offers financial support to local governments for expediting the development of new homes.
“This is fantastic news for the City of St. Catharines. The Housing Accelerator Fund is set to support the City in implementing a range of fresh initiatives aimed at boosting the approval of housing units, ensuring that more individuals have a place to call home,” said Mayor Mat Siscoe.
Competition Bureau warns businesses about potential liability from employee reviews
The Competition Bureau is warning businesses to watch out for reviews posted by their employees that don’t properly disclose their business connection. When posting online reviews about their company or its competitors, employees must disclose all connections they have with the business, product or service they promote, even if they’re providing their honest opinion.
To stay on the right side of the law, the Bureau recommends that businesses train employees to properly disclose their business connection when posting reviews about the company or its competitors, put in place a compliance program to prevent misleading reviews by employees, and build an effective monitoring system to detect misconduct.
St. Catharines hospital gets a new name
Niagara Health has announced that the St. Catharines hospital has been renamed as the Marotta Family Hospital. The announcement followed a $15 million donation from the family.
In April of last year the family also made a $10 million donation to the South Niagara Hospital.
Lynn Guerriero, President and CEO at Niagara Health, called the gift “transformational,” adding that “the naming of the St. Catharines hospital is a fitting recognition.”
Government of Ontario invests in Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada
The Ontario government is providing the Co-operative Housing Federation (CHF) of Canada with $646,790 over three years to help their members successfully transition to a new regulatory framework under the province’s Community Housing Renewal Strategy.
After extensive consultation with the community housing sector, the government implemented a new regulatory framework in July 2022 that motivates housing providers to remain in the system and encourages new programs to better meet local housing needs. This investment will enable CHF to provide its housing co-op members with the tools and resources they need to adapt to the new regulatory framework.
Welland funds temporary eight-bed shelter for February and March
In light of the increasing demand for homeless support in Welland, City Council has taken decisive action to address the immediate needs of its unhoused residents.
Though the Niagara Region has augmented the number of available beds for homelessness support in Welland by eight beds, from November 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024, providing accommodation for approximately 50 individuals at two persons per room, a motion brought forward by Councillor Bonnie Fokkens directs staff to fund a temporary eight-bed shelter for February and March of this year.
Investment in building construction increases
Investment in building construction rose 1.7% to $19.8 billion in November, Statistics Canada data released today has shown. The residential sector grew 2.2% to $13.7 billion, while investment in the non-residential sector edged up 0.4% to $6.0 billion.
On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), investment in building construction increased by 1.3% to $12.3 billion in November.
Canada challenges U.S. decision to maintain softwood lumber duties
The Government of Canada has announced that it has filed a notice of intent to challenge the United States International Trade Commission’s (USITC’s) decision to maintain duties on Canadian softwood lumber products, under Chapter 10 of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
“Canada is disappointed that the United States continues to impose unwarranted and unjust duties on Canadian softwood lumber products,” said Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development. “These duties impact our innovative Canadian softwood industry. And with the significant current challenges in housing supply and affordability, these duties also harm U.S. consumers and businesses that need Canadian lumber.”
Did you know?
More than 5 trillion pieces of plastic are floating in our oceans.
Focus on Climate
Mapping out the implications of climate transition risk for the financial system
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.
