In this edition:
- Ontario posts application for full-time Niagara regional chair
- Niagara home sales rise while benchmark price falls
- Federal procurement changes aim to open more doors for small business
- Owner proposes major expansion of SkyWheel on Clifton Hill instead of new Ferris wheel
- Niagara wineries partner with transit group on proposed shuttle service
- Young entrepreneurs to showcase new businesses in downtown St. Catharines
- Bank of Canada surveys show weaker sentiment as fuel costs and uncertainty weigh
- Ford, Smith unveil plan for new ‘Northern Shield’ oil pipeline between Alberta and Ontario
- Canada names preferred supplier for new submarine fleet
- Air Canada scales back U.S. flights again. These routes are affected
- Focus on Trends
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Picture credit: Regional Municipality of Niagara
Ontario posts application for full-time Niagara regional chair
Ontario’s Public Appointments Secretariat has posted the full-time Regional Municipality of Niagara chair position, with applications open until July 13 for a four-year term beginning November 15. The posting says applicants are expected to have previous elected political experience, strong knowledge of regional and provincial priorities, and the ability to build partnerships, support economic growth, and identify governance and service-delivery efficiencies.
Picture credit: Oleksandr / Adobe Stock
Niagara home sales rise while benchmark price falls
Niagara home sales rose in June, with 615 residential sales recorded through the Niagara Association of REALTORS® MLS system, up 5.1% from June 2025 and 6.4% from May 2026. New listings were down 7.7% year-over-year, while the composite benchmark price fell 6.5% to $571,300, leaving buyers with more choice but suggesting the market is gradually finding a steadier rhythm.
Picture credit: chernikovatv / Adobe Stock
Federal procurement changes aim to open more doors for small business
The federal government is launching new measures to make procurement easier for small businesses, including more proportionate requirements, standardized documents, plain-language tender summaries, a “tell us once” approach for common paperwork, and pre-submission completeness checks. Ottawa says small and medium-sized businesses represent 47.2% of private-sector GDP and 63.6% of the private-sector workforce, but currently account for only 20–30% of Public Services and Procurement Canada contract value.
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Picture credit: HOCO Ltd.
Owner proposes major expansion of SkyWheel on Clifton Hill instead of new Ferris wheel in Niagara Falls park
In a game-changing proposal, HOCO Ltd., which owns and operates businesses on the south side of Clifton Hill, would expand and modernize its Niagara SkyWheel to become the tallest observation wheel in Canada.
Picture credit: Château des Charmes
Niagara wineries partner with transit group on proposed shuttle service
For the past year and a half, CUTRIC has been crafting a plan to introduce a transit service to the area called Niagara Region Wine Country Shuttle Project. The idea is to provide travel service in a three-year pilot project for tourists, workers and students throughout the region.
Picture credit: City of St. Catharines
Young entrepreneurs to showcase new businesses in downtown St. Catharines
The St. Catharines Enterprise Centre’s Summer Company Showcase returns July 13 at Wandering Spirits, featuring nine businesses launched by entrepreneurs aged 15 to 29. The lineup includes ventures in landscaping, laser engraving, exterior cleaning, hot dogs, chess coaching, graphic recording, dog bandanas, wooden furniture, and training for international students, with participants supported by Ontario-funded grants, business training, and mentorship through the Summer Company Program.
Picture credit: Christian / Adobe Stock
Bank of Canada surveys show weaker sentiment as fuel costs and uncertainty weigh on outlooks
Bank of Canada surveys found business sentiment deteriorated in the second quarter after three quarters of improvement, with firms reporting softer sales outlooks as higher fuel-related costs and uncertainty from the war in the Middle East weighed on demand, especially outside the Prairies. Consumers also remained cautious, with inflation expectations edging up, high prices and uncertainty holding back spending plans, and households more likely to cut discretionary purchases, seek cheaper essentials, and drive less if they expected the conflict to raise inflation significantly.
Picture credit: zabanski / Adobe Stock
Ford, Smith unveil plan for new ‘Northern Shield’ oil pipeline between Alberta and Ontario
The premiers of Alberta and Ontario unveiled a proposed 3,300-km pipeline to transport oil from Western Canada to refineries in southern Ontario. The pipeline would transport an estimated 500,000 barrels per day of oil with possible expansion to 800,000 barrels per day.
The Manitoba government has refused to join the initiative because Indigenous groups are not involved from the start.
Picture credit: alexlmx / Adobe Stock
Canada names preferred supplier for new submarine fleet
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems has been selected as the preferred supplier for Canada’s next submarine fleet, with negotiations now set to begin on what Ottawa calls the largest defence procurement in Canadian history. The Canadian Patrol Submarine Project will deliver up to 12 modern submarines, with the first four expected in 2034, and the government says the project will prioritize Canadian supply-chain investment, defence-sector jobs, and long-term industrial benefits.
Picture credit: robin / Adobe Stock
Air Canada scales back U.S. flights again. These routes are affected
Air Canada is once again scaling back flights to the U.S. amid high jet fuel costs and lower demand for trips south of the border.
Schedule changes by the country’s largest carrier show it is halting or delaying eight transborder routes starting this fall.
Focus on Trends
Canada’s new arms race
Stephen Maher, Maclean’s
When I was born, in 1965, Canada was a major military power, spending more than 2.6 per cent of its GDP on defence and maintaining 107,000 people in uniform. I spent the first year of my life in France because my father was in the Royal Canadian Air Force, stationed at 1 Air Division in the city of Metz, the headquarters of Canadian CF-104 Starfighters—cutting-edge, nuclear-armed jets. At the time, the RCAF was the sharp end of NATO’s European spear, part of its “tripwire” system, meant to deter an invasion from the other side of the Iron Curtain.
Then, in 1966, French president Charles de Gaulle—who had clashed with the U.S. over the Vietnam War and the Suez Canal—announced that France would withdraw from NATO’s military command. He expelled foreign military personnel and their children, like me, from French bases. He and his successors then spent years pouring money into the military-industrial complex: research and manufacturing, plus building jets, tanks, submarines, satellites and even a nuclear deterrent. The result is that today, France can respond with a Gallic shrug to the kind of American pressure that loosens the guts of the leaders of other NATO countries—and none more than those in Canada. Ever since the time of de Gaulle, Canada saw security in integration, allowing its armed forces to wither, believing that the best way to keep our country safe was to hide behind Uncle Sam’s tailcoat.
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.
