In this edition:
- Trump says USMCA is unimportant as Canadian officials head to Washington
- Upper Vista Welland receives occupancy approval after partial collapse
- Niagara District Airport says Billy Bishop decision will not derail expansion
- Bank of Canada saw tariffs and oil prices as major economic risks
- Canadian data-breach costs reach record $7.11 million
- Construction sector faces shortage of more than 30,000 workers
- Ontario says AI data centres must provide community benefits
- Grimsby launches first Start-Up Showcase
- Niagara police seek input on community safety priorities
- Canadian labour market steadies as population growth slows
- Restaurant and bar sales rise in May
- Ottawa invests $1.95 billion in Canadian locomotive assembly
- Federal government looks to mobilize capital for defence sector
- Focus on Municipalities
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Trump dismisses USMCA as Canadian trade officials head to Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump says he has little interest in updating USMCA, arguing that Canada and Mexico need the agreement more than the United States. His comments come as Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette head to Washington following the introduction of additional 50 per cent tariffs on selected Canadian goods. Two major industrial unions representing workers on both sides of the border are urging the administration to reconsider the tariffs and pursue a more cooperative approach. Unless the three countries reach an agreement, the decision not to renew USMCA has started a decade-long wind-down of the pact.
Photo credit: Evertrust Development Group Canada
Upper Vista Welland receives occupancy approval after partial collapse
Upper Vista Welland has received occupancy approval for more than 70 residences, along with the common and service areas needed to begin welcoming occupants. The five-storey, 226-unit condominium has undergone extensive reviews, remediation and reconstruction since part of the building collapsed in February 2023. The City of Welland worked with engineering and forensic specialists throughout the permitting and reconstruction process. Remaining units are now proceeding through final commissioning, regulatory approvals and purchaser closings. Developer Evertrust says the project required significant additional resources and changes to its management, quality-control and decision-making systems, although it did not disclose the additional cost.
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GNCC file photo | Picture credit: Anne Kalagian / Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce
Niagara airport says Billy Bishop decision will not derail expansion
Niagara District Airport CEO Dan Pilon says the federal government’s rejection of an expanded Billy Bishop Airport should not be taken as a warning for Niagara’s own plans. Pilon said the projects involve substantially different circumstances and that Niagara will continue advancing an expansion it considers important to the regional economy. Ontario recently committed $9.7 million to support work connected to the airport’s 2025–2045 Master Plan. Proposed improvements include an extended runway, terminal expansion, additional parking and facilities for passenger screening and border services. The airport estimates that the plan could generate more than $1 billion in economic output and serve seven million passengers.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem | Photo credit: Bank of Canada / CC BY 2.0
Bank of Canada saw tariffs and oil prices as major economic risks
Bank of Canada officials believed the Canadian economy was beginning to recover when they maintained the policy rate at 2.25 per cent on July 15. Governing Council expected second-quarter growth of approximately 2.5 per cent, but members remained divided over whether the recovery would continue. U.S. tariffs and trade uncertainty were identified as major downside risks, particularly for exports and business investment, while renewed conflict in the Middle East and elevated oil prices posed an inflation risk. The Bank expects inflation to decline to approximately 2.5 per cent during the second half of 2026 before returning to its two per cent target in early 2027.
Photo credit: issaronow / Adobe Stock
Canadian data-breach costs reach record $7.11 million
Canadian organizations are paying an average of $7.11 million for a data breach, the highest figure recorded in IBM’s annual study. Energy organizations reported average costs of $9.21 million, followed by technology at $9.02 million and industrial organizations at $8.89 million. Supply-chain compromise was the largest cost-increasing factor, adding nearly $368,000 to an incident on average. Organizations using AI and security automation extensively reported average breach costs of $5.5 million, compared with $8.91 million among those without those tools. They also detected and contained incidents faster. More than one-quarter of Canadian organizations surveyed reported experiencing an AI-generated attack.
Picture credit: Rapeepat / Adobe Stock
Construction sector faces shortage of more than 30,000 workers
Canada’s construction sector employed 1.25 million people in 2025, but a wave of retirements threatens to create significant labour shortages over the coming decade. BuildForce Canada projects that approximately 20 per cent of the construction workforce will retire by 2035. Non-residential construction will need almost 189,000 new workers and could face a shortage exceeding 30,000. Residential construction is expected to require another 117,500 workers, although slower population growth may soften new-home construction through 2028. Employers are being encouraged to strengthen retention, training and compensation while recruiting more women, Indigenous people and newcomers, all of whom remain underrepresented in onsite construction work.
Picture credit: 安琦 王 / Adobe Stock
Ontario says AI data centres must provide community benefits
Ontario intends to require proposed AI data centres to demonstrate economic and community benefits before receiving access to the province’s electricity system. Energy Minister Stephen Lecce said access to power is not an automatic right and that proposals should create jobs, support local economies and contribute to Ontario’s technology sector. However, the province has not yet released the formal criteria it will use to assess projects. Data centres can require enormous and continuous electricity supplies, creating concerns about grid capacity, ratepayer costs and competition with other industrial users. The forthcoming rules could influence where projects are built and which communities receive associated infrastructure and employment benefits.
Picture credit: goodluz / Adobe Stock
Grimsby launches first Start-Up Showcase
The Town of Grimsby is launching a free event to connect entrepreneurs, micro-business owners and aspiring founders with the resources needed to start or expand a business. The inaugural Grimsby Start-Up Showcase will take place September 22 from 7:30 to 10 a.m. at the Major Refrigeration Peach King Centre. Participants will be able to meet organizations offering assistance with business planning, financing, marketing, legal issues, innovation and government programs. The event is the first initiative of the Grimsby Start-Up Working Group, a pilot project bringing together municipal, regional, educational, business and community organizations. Advance registration is encouraged, although walk-ins may be accepted.
Picture credit: trongnguyen / Adobe Stock
Niagara police seek input on community safety priorities
The Niagara Regional Police Service Board and Niagara Regional Police Service are seeking feedback from residents, businesses, community organizations and other stakeholders on public safety across Niagara. The survey asks about community concerns, trust and confidence in policing, and opportunities to strengthen safety and engagement. Responses will be considered collectively to identify recurring themes and help guide implementation of the Police Service Board’s 2026–2029 Strategic Plan and future community safety initiatives. The survey takes approximately five to 10 minutes to complete and remains open until August 7. English and French versions are available, and organizations are encouraged to circulate the survey through their networks.
Picture credit: davit85 / Adobe Stock
Canadian labour market steadies as population growth slows
Canada’s labour market stabilized in the second quarter following a weak start to 2026, according to a new report from Indeed Canada. Slower population growth helped raise the working-age employment rate to its highest level since mid-2024. However, economist Brendon Bernard expects job growth to remain slow as immigration declines and more workers retire. Many job-seekers also continue to experience extended periods of unemployment. Online job postings were broadly unchanged from a year earlier across most industries. Health care and education postings declined more noticeably, which the report suggests may indicate that some of the persistent labour shortages in those sectors are beginning to ease.
Picture credit: Drazen / Adobe Stock
Restaurant and bar sales rise in May
Sales at Canadian restaurants, bars and other food-service establishments increased 0.9 per cent in May, reaching $8.8 billion. All four major industry groups recorded growth. Full-service restaurant sales rose 1.4 per cent, drinking-place sales increased 1.8 per cent, limited-service establishments gained 0.5 per cent and special food services grew 0.4 per cent. Sales increased in eight provinces, including a 1.2 per cent gain in Ontario. Compared with May 2025, menu prices were three per cent higher, while alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments cost 3.7 per cent more. The figures are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
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Ottawa invests $1.95 billion in Canadian locomotive assembly
The federal government is investing $1.95 billion to replace VIA Rail’s aging long-distance, regional and remote locomotive fleet while returning passenger-locomotive assembly to Canada. Stadler will produce 45 hybrid battery-diesel locomotives, with final assembly of up to 36 taking place at a new facility in Montréal. Ottawa is providing $1.6 billion for the locomotives and $357 million for the assembly and maintenance facility. The project is expected to support the equivalent of 1,200 full-time jobs in manufacturing, construction, engineering and maintenance. The new fleet will use battery systems to reduce fuel consumption and will become North America’s first hybrid-powered passenger locomotives.
Picture credit: JHVEPhoto / Adobe Stock
Federal government looks to mobilize capital for defence sector
Federal ministers have met with defence companies, institutional investors and pension funds to explore ways of directing more private and public capital toward Canada’s defence industry. Six months after launching its $6-billion Defence Platform, the Business Development Bank of Canada has supported 130 small and medium-sized businesses and is approaching $1 billion in loans and investments. Export Development Canada has provided approximately $2 billion in financing and insurance support to defence and security companies since expanding its work in the sector in 2025. Discussions also covered investment opportunities in strategic defence and dual-use projects, including large infrastructure initiatives and technologies with both civilian and military applications.
Focus on Municipalities
Growing pains: rethinking development charges in Canadian municipalities
Andrew Sancton, C.D. Howe Institute
At the beginning of this decade, development charges, the municipal fees charged on new development to help pay for growth-related infrastructure, were of interest primarily to developers, consultants, and municipal officials.1 No one else paid much attention. If questions ever arose, they were answered by the maxim that development charges enabled “growth to pay for growth,” which was presented as a sound principle of municipal finance. However, in this second half of the 2020s, as Canada faces a housing affordability crisis, development charges have become a major political issue.
For example, in most large municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), such charges commonly add well over $100,000 to each new single-family home (Keleher 2025).2 In Metro Vancouver, development cost charges (as they are known in BC) in some municipalities exceed $50,000.3 In Calgary, meanwhile, “development fees” are in the $10,000 range.4
Past C.D. Howe Institute studies have shown that if such charges were eliminated, housing prices could fall accordingly (Dachis 2020). Politicians at all three levels of government have started paying attention, so much so that in March 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Doug Ford announced a new program whereby Canada and Ontario would fund selected local infrastructure projects if affected municipalities reduced their development charges by up to 50 percent. I examine this program more closely toward the end of this Commentary.
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.
