In this edition:
- Is the labour market cooling off? Niagara unemployment ticks up as local economy sheds jobs
- Badawey planning ‘Niagara uncorked’ initiative in response to report on wine industry potential
- Bank of Canada expected to raise rates next week, despite rise in unemployment rate
- Minister of Transport announces funding to increase supply chain capacity at Toronto Pearson International Airport
- Advocacy report knocks Ontario’s early apprenticeship plan
- Cogeco withdraws its advertising investments from Meta platforms
Is the labour market cooling off? Niagara unemployment ticks up as local economy sheds jobs
Niagara saw a noticeable uptick in unemployment in June’s job numbers, with the local unemployment rate reaching 5.7% – the highest since October 2022. Local unemployment has ranged between 4% and 4.5% for 2023.
Local employment dropped as well, from 222,300 jobs in May to 219,000 in June. The labour force (people either working or actively seeking work) fell from 233,000 to 232,200. While the unemployment rate increases if large numbers of people enter the workforce but do not find work immediately, the changes in these numbers indicate that people may be losing jobs in Niagara.
Nationally, employment increased by 60,000 (+0.3%) in June, driven by gains in full-time work (+110,000; +0.7%). The unemployment rate rose to 5.4% (+0.2 percentage points), as more people searched for work.
Click here to access Statistics Canada’s interactive Labour Force Survey app.
Click here for more data visualizations for the local labour market.
Badawey planning ‘Niagara uncorked’ initiative in response to report on wine industry potential
Encouraged by “extremely exciting” economic growth projections fuelled by the region’s grape and wine industry, Niagara Centre Liberal MP Vance Badawey is wasting no time to take action.
Following Thursday’s release of a report by Deloitte Canada that estimates the region could see an additional $8 billion in wine-related economic growth in the decades to come, Badawey said he has already begun discussions with industry representatives and others.
The full report, commissioned by Ontario Craft Wineries, Wine Growers Ontario and Tourism Partnership Niagara, is available at uncorkontario.ca.
Bank of Canada expected to raise rates next week, despite rise in unemployment rate
June marked the second month in a row the unemployment rate has risen as economists watch for softening in the labour market amid high interest rates.
The loosening of the labour market likely comes as good news to the Bank of Canada, which is looking for signs that its aggressive rate hikes are working to cool the economy.
But forecasters are still expecting the central bank to raise interest rates at its next interest rate decision on Wednesday.
Minister of Transport announces funding to increase supply chain capacity at Toronto Pearson International Airport
Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, announced an investment of nearly $94 million under the National Trade Corridors Fund for a cargo development project at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The project will improve cargo capacity by building two new facilities: the South Cargo Transfer Development Facility (YYZ South) and the North Cargo Apron Development (YYZ North). YYZ South will increase capacity for incoming cargo, and YYZ North will build additional infrastructure for more cargo aircraft parking spaces, which will also increase cargo capacity.
Advocacy report knocks Ontario’s early apprenticeship plan
The Ontario government’s plan to bolster the skilled trades by introducing a new pathway to a high school diploma for students who have entered apprenticeships after their Grade 10 year has been criticized by advocacy group People for Education as potentially leading to dead-end careers for those who don’t complete their apprenticeships.
A People for Education report, called Risky Business: Choosing Between School and Apprenticeships May Have Unintended Consequences, was itself slammed by some construction stakeholders who suggested the advocates don’t understand the growth that takes place during the apprenticeship cycle.
Others said the People for Education report raised important issues and suggested not enough details about the government proposal are known.
Cogeco withdraws its advertising investments from Meta platforms
The news of the past few days has revealed to Canadians the flip side of Bill C-18, which now requires web giants to negotiate with Canadian news publishers to pay royalties for the journalistic content they broadcast on their platforms.
Following the adoption of Bill C-18, Meta (Facebook/Instagram) approached the office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage to try to make fundamental changes to the act, even though the legislative process had been completed. In their negotiations with the minister, the web giants threatened to block access to Canadian news.
In support of this legislation and the regulatory process that will soon be launched for its implementation, Cogeco, along with many other industry members, has decided to withdraw its advertising investments from Meta platforms.
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Focus on International Trade
USMCA trade agreement reaches third anniversary, optimism rising
To President Donald Trump, America’s trade relationship with Mexico was intolerable. He seethed over the U.S. trade deficit and the shuttered factories in America’s heartland. “No longer,” he vowed six years ago, “are we going to allow other countries to break the rules, to steal our jobs and drain our wealth.”
So Trump pressured Mexico and Canada to replace their mutual pact with one more to his liking. After a couple of years of negotiations, he got what he wanted. Out was the North American Free Trade Agreement. In was the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The USMCA, which Trump hailed as “the fairest, most balanced and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed,” reached its third anniversary on Jul. 1.
The trade pact hasn’t proved to be the economic bonanza Trump boasted it would be. It couldn’t have been, given that trade makes up less than a third of America’s $26 trillion economy.
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.
