In this edition:
- Niagara Region Economic Development wins “Deal of the Year” award
- Government of Canada to provide $35 million in capital funds for Niagara Transit
- Infrastructure projects help propel HOPA to 11.5 million-tonne year
- Brock unveils lineup of programming for Black History Month
- Niagara Parks partners with The Bridge to reduce food insecurity
- Niagara-on-the-Lake starts process again to hire new CAO
- Walmart Canada to open “dozens” of stores and a new Ontario distribution centre
- Focus on Climate
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Niagara Region Director of Economic Development George Spezza | Picture credit: Regional Municipality of Niagara
Niagara Region Economic Development wins “Deal of the Year” award for Asahi Kesai project
Niagara Region’s Economic Development team was honoured with a prestigious 2024 Deal of the Year Impact Award by Business Facilities magazine for its work on the Asahi Kasei investment project. This recognition underscores the significant economic impact and the collaborative efforts that have made the project a game-changer for the Niagara region.
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Photo credit: Niagara Region Transit
Government of Canada to provide $35 million in capital funds for Niagara Transit
There was no giant novelty cheque, but federal Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith arrived in Niagara Wednesday with what mattered most — long-term, predictable public transit funding.
A news release from Erskine-Smith’s office said the funding will be used to maintain, upgrade, replace or modernize Niagara’s public transit infrastructure.
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Picture credit: HOPA Ports
HOPA Ports (Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority) has released results for the 2024 navigation season, reporting a combined total cargo of 11.46 million metric tonnes (MT) through the ports of Hamilton and Oshawa, and the Thorold Multimodal Hub. The evolving cargo mix demonstrates the importance of trade-enabling infrastructure in driving Ontario’s economy.
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Computer Science student Justin Mafie, a Peer Assistant at Brock’s Black Student Success Centre, stands next to visual imagery to highlight the themes and significance of Black History Month/African Heritage Month that he designed. | Picture credit: Brock University
Brock unveils lineup of programming for Black History Month
Brock University will mark Black History Month/African Heritage Month (BHM/AHM) this February with a robust lineup of programming.
Focusing on the theme of intersectionality, the month will celebrate the heritage and culture of Black faculty, staff and students and their communities, while also recognizing overlapping and intersecting social identities and related systems of oppression, domination and discrimination.
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Picture credit: Niagara Parks Commission
Niagara Parks partners with The Bridge to reduce food insecurity
Niagara Parks has launched a new partnership with The Bridge, a mission church and food recovery centre in Niagara Falls to fight food insecurity and reduce waste. Through this initiative, Niagara Parks’ Culinary Team donates leftover food from special events and functions, which would otherwise go to waste to The Bridge, who then distributes it to the community at large.
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Photo credit: Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake starts process again to hire new CAO
The first meeting in 2025 of the Niagara-on-the-Lake CAO recruitment committee on Jan. 29 finished after nearly an hour of discussion behind closed doors without a decision on who will fill the position.
As with the majority of their meetings in 2024, committee members talked about the process to seek a preferred candidate for the job with Toronto-based consulting firm The Phelps Group.
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Photo credit: JHVEPhoto / Adobe Stock
Walmart Canada to invest $6.5B, open “dozens” of stores and a new Ontario distribution centre
Walmart Canada is investing $6.5 billion in expanding its store network and supply chain infrastructure and plans to open five new Supercentres in Alberta and Ontario by 2027, as well as a new distribution centre in Vaughan this spring. It also says the fi
ve stores are just the start of “dozens” of new stores that will open across the country.
Did you know?
Focus on Climate
AI is bad for the environment, and the problem is bigger than energy consumption
Artificial intelligence technologies, like chatbots, are attracting growing scrutiny for their voracious energy demands. However, energy consumption is only one part of their broader environmental impact.
Late last year, ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot run by OpenAI, celebrated its second birthday. In its brief existence, the platform has amassed over 300 million weekly users who send roughly one billion messages to the chatbot per day.
With US$6.6 billion raised in its last funding round, OpenAI has emerged as one of the most valuable private companies in the world.
Elsewhere in tech, other companies marked less savoury milestones. Alphabet — the parent company of Google — recently announced that its GHG emissions are up 48 per cent since 2019. At roughly the same time, Microsoft announced that its emissions are up 29 per cent since 2020.
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.