Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses

Visit gncc.ca/workplace-self-screening-kits to learn more and reserve kits for your organization.

Reminder: Ontario will enter Step Three of the Roadmap to Reopen at midnight tonight. The GNCC has prepared a summary of business-related changes here.

Doug Ford rules out a provincial ‘vaccine passport’

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in the strongest terms yet Thursday that the province will not create a vaccine passport that would allow people to signal to businesses and other organizations that they have been vaccinated.

“The answer is no, we’re not gonna do it. We’re not gonna have a split society,” Ford told reporters in response to a question about creating vaccine passports Thursday at the first press conference he has held in some time.

Ontario to provide free health and safety training to businesses

The Ontario government is investing $10.5 million to provide up to 60,000 small businesses across the province with free health and safety training over the next three years. The new Small Business Health and Safety Training Program will train health and safety representatives of small businesses on how to keep workers safe in the retail, construction, health care, accommodation and food services, and other sectors.

Businesses will also be reimbursed for the time the representatives are away from work.

To register for the free training, eligible small businesses must access the course through Workplace Safety and Prevention Services’ website.

Click here for more information.

Brock University to move to ‘Brock 3’ Monday, July 19

Brock University is taking an important step toward its goal of a significant return to campus this fall, moving into ‘Brock 3’ of its own reopening framework as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, July 19.

The move comes as Ontario transitions into Step 3 of the provincial government’s Roadmap to Reopen Plan.

Last month, Brock updated its Stages of Reopening/Recovery document to better align with the provincial framework with three stages of recovery.

Click here for more information.

Reading Recommendations

Canada sheds 294,200 jobs in June – ADP

Reuters

Canada lost 294,200 jobs in June, mainly on a plunge in service sector jobs in industries hit hard by COVID-19 restrictions, a report from payroll services provider ADP showed on Thursday.

The May data was revised to show a loss of 318,700 jobs rather than a gain of 101,600. The report, which is derived from ADP’s payrolls data, measures the change in total nonfarm payroll employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

Canadian house prices and home sales hit records in March — but have fallen every month since

CBC News

The price of the average Canadian home that sold in June was $679,000, an increase of 25 per cent in the past year. While sales have risen sharply, too, both figures were lower last month than in the month before.

The Canadian Real Estate Association said in a release Thursday that home sales have now fallen for three months in a row after setting an all-time high in March 2021.

Just over 50,000 Canadian homes changed hands during June. The average selling price, $679,000, was down from $688,000 in May, $696,000 in April and $716,000 in March.

One of your top employees is quitting ─ how can you entice them to stay?

Canadian HR Reporter

All too often, HR or management is faced with an employee who announces they have found a job elsewhere. And when the departing individual is one of your top employees, it’s just bad news.

But all is not lost ─ there are several steps employers can take to try an entice the person to change their mind. And if all else fails, a friendly separation is always preferred.