In this edition:
- Montreal-based firm acquires Pen Centre for $140 million
- OLG makes $6-million first-quarter payment to Niagara Falls for hosting casinos
- Mayor Siscoe joins Great Lakes mayors and leaders on economic resilience
- Niagara-on-the-Lake hotel development seeks cut to development charges
- Provincial Chamber leaders unite on removing trade barriers
- Niagara rental rates dropping, but not as sharply as other places across Canada
- Carney’s meeting with First Nations on projects leaves some chiefs frustrated
- Building investment falls as residential construction drops in Ontario
- China urges Canada to drop steel import curbs and threatens countermeasures
- Focus on Technology
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Picture credit: The Pen Centre
Montreal-based firm acquires Pen Centre for $140 million
Montreal-based real estate firm Leyad has purchased the St. Catharines’ retail outlet for $140 million — taking over Niagara’s largest shopping mall which includes more than 1.1 million square feet of retail space.
In a media release Thursday, the privately held real estate investment and development firm announced it had acquired the 2.8 million square foot property anchored by tenants which include Loblaw Co., Walmart, Supercentre, Sephora and Lululemon.
Photo credit: JHVEPhoto / Adobe Stock
OLG makes $6-million first-quarter payment to Niagara Falls for hosting casinos
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. has issued a first-quarter non-tax gaming revenue payment of $6 million to the City of Niagara Falls, slightly more than last year.
The payment, for the period from April to June, was issued to the municipality for hosting Casino Niagara and Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.
Picture credit: St. Catharines Economic Development
Mayor Siscoe joins Great Lakes mayors and leaders on economic resilience
Yesterday, Mayor Mat Siscoe joined mayors and leaders from across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region for an important virtual conversation on regional economic resilience.
Mayor Siscoe emphasized the importance of cross-border partnerships in strengthening shared industries and promoting local prosperity.
Picture credit: Peter J. Lesdow
Niagara-on-the-Lake five-star hotel development seeks cut to development charges
Niagara-on-the-Lake councillors have thrown their support behind Two Sisters Resorts Corp.’s attempts to seek a reduction to $5 million in Niagara Region development charges for its proposed five-star hotel on the former Parliament Oak property.
Ontario Chamber of Commerce CEO Daniel Tisch | Picture credit: Daniel Tisch
Provincial Chamber leaders unite on removing trade barriers
As Canada’s premiers prepare to meet in Huntsville, Ontario, for the Council of the Federation meeting, Canada’s provincial chambers of commerce are calling for bold, united action to tear down the remaining barriers to internal trade and economic cooperation.
In a joint letter released today, provincial chamber CEOs applaud the successes of 2025 to date, and propose an agenda to ensure the momentum continues.
“The unity we saw at the First Ministers’ meeting in Saskatoon was historic,” said Daniel Tisch, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “Now it’s time to finish what we’ve started.”
Picture credit: Blacqbook / Adobe Stock
Niagara rental rates dropping, but not as sharply as other places across Canada
As average rents drop across the country, signalling a renters’ market, Niagara rentals have seen little change, as people escaping the city look to the area for deals.
Rentals.ca, a rental aggregate website, published its June report outlining a divide between primary markets seeing a decline in rents and secondary rental markets, like Niagara, attracting people from larger cities seeking lower costs.
Photo credit: Wangkun Jia / Adobe Stock
Carney’s meeting with First Nations on major projects leaves some chiefs frustrated
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was optimistic about finding consensus on the Liberals’ major projects law as he met with hundreds of First Nations chiefs on Thursday, but by mid-afternoon some leaders had walked out of the summit, decrying what they saw as an insufficient response to the concerns they’ve been raising for weeks.
Photo credit: bannafarsai / Adobe Stock
Building investment falls as residential construction drops in Ontario
The total value of investment in building construction decreased by $491.4 million to $21.8 billion in May. Investment in the residential sector fell 3.0%, while the non-residential sector edged down 0.4%.
However, investment in multi-unit construction dropped by $295.2 million to $8.5 billion. The monthly decline was largely attributed to Ontario (-$166.4 million) and Quebec (-$159.0 million). Single-family home investment decreased by $167.4 million to $6.6 billion in May. Ontario (-$80.4 million) accounted for nearly half of the decrease.
Picture credit: littlewolf1989 / Adobe Stock
China urges Canada to drop steel import curbs and threatens countermeasures
China’s commerce ministry called on Canada to correct the “wrong practice” of restrictions on steel imports and said in a statement on Friday it would take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese firms.
Focus on Technology
Canadians are using weak passwords at work. You’re a hacker’s dream target if yours is on this 2025 worst offenders list
Loraine Centeno, Insidehalton.com
Corporate workers can’t seem to shake off those Sesame Street songs from the 1990s and it’s showing in their passwords.
A new study by cybersecurity company Nord Security has found that Canadian corporate employees continue to use weak passwords such as “123456,” “password” and even “hockey.”
Weak passwords expose individuals and organizations to a host of cybercrimes, since these are easy to guess using brute force attack methods.
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.
