In this edition:
- 812-unit, ‘world-class’ buildings to overlook Niagara’s falls
- Ontario wineries, bottle shops ramp up for looming strike at LCBO stores
- New Niagara transit buses to cost more than $21 million
- Niagara Falls couple donates $1M to South Niagara Hospital campaign
- Number of EI claimants up 15% year-over-year
- 20% of apartments in 20-storey Niagara Falls building to have monthly rents ‘well below’ $2,400
- Canadian Chamber labels Digital Services Tax “discriminatory and damaging”
- WestJet mechanics take strike off the table as two sides resume talks
- Loblaw says it’s on track to open 40 new stores, convert dozens this year
- BCRSP and CRBOH streamline path to certification by both bodies
- Frontier Networks to resell Starlink internet in Canada and U.S.
- Focus on Technology
812-unit, ‘world-class’ buildings to overlook Niagara’s falls
A vacant underused property in an urban area at the edge of Niagara Falls’ tourist commercial district will be home to what’s described as a “world-class” and “innovative” 812-unit apartment development.
City council on Tuesday approved 29- and 38-storey towers on 1.24 hectares of land on Portage Road, north of Marineland Parkway.
Ontario wineries, bottle shops ramp up for looming strike at LCBO stores
Until now, there has never been a strike at the LCBO and both sides hope that can be avoided. In 2005, 2009 and 2013, liquor board employees voted in favour of work stoppages, but in all instances the two sides reached agreement before the strikes came into effect.
Paul Speck, president of Henry of Pelham Estate Winery in Niagara, which sells 60% of its wines through LCBO, said this strike threat feels more dire. “This situation comes around every couple of years as the union renegotiates its contract with the LCBO,” he told Wines in Niagara. “They always seem to threaten to strike and in the past, they have made a deal avoiding any disruption. This year appears to be more acute due to the Ford administration upping the timeline on retail modernization, so the union is very concerned about job safety, losses and closures. All that to say we may be in for a strike.”
New Niagara transit buses to cost more than $21 million
Niagara Transit Commission has approved the purchase of 19 conventional buses and 11 specialized transit vehicles.
Carla Stout, general manager of Niagara Region Transit, told the commission on Tuesday that the purchases won’t impact the tax levy because they are funded through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), the provincial gas tax and the commission’s capital reserves.
Niagara Falls couple donates $1M to South Niagara Hospital campaign
The Niagara Health Foundation is recognizing a signification donation from a Niagara Falls couple in support of the new South Niagara Hospital.
Alfredo and Mary Varalli contributed $1 million to the It’s Our Future campaign and are being recognized as “future builder donors.”
Number of EI claimants up 15% year-over-year
On a year-over-year basis, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up by 60,000 (+15.1%) in April 2024, Statistics Canada reported today.
In April, 456,000 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, down 2.8% (-13,000) from March. Prior to the decline in April, the number of regular EI recipients had trended higher from February to December 2023 (+78,000; +19.8%) and held relatively steady in the early months of 2024.
20% of apartments in 20-storey Niagara Falls building to have monthly rents ‘well below’ $2,400
A minimum of 39 of 193 units proposed for a 20-storey residential development on the south side of Main Street in Niagara Falls, west of Allendale Avenue, are being touted as affordable to moderate-income households.
City council on Tuesday approved development for an irregularly shaped property made up of four parcels of land formerly occupied by three single-detached dwellings and a portion of the former Murray Street road allowance that was purchased from the city.
Canadian Chamber labels Digital Services Tax “discriminatory and damaging”
“Regrettably, the Government has moved one step closer to implementing this discriminatory and damaging digital services tax (DST) via Bill C-59, in contravention of prevailing international tax principles,” said Jessica Brandon-Jepp, Senior Director, Fiscal and Financial Services Policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in a statement issued today.
“At a time when Canadians are struggling with affordability, this tax will increase costs for consumers on a variety of everyday products and services that rely on digital platforms including digital subscriptions, a rural getaway booked online, takeout after a long work week, or the handmade products purchased from Canadian artisans.”
WestJet mechanics take strike off the table as two sides resume talks
The threat of a strike by WestJet airplane mechanics is off the table — for now — after both sides agreed to resume negotiations, but not before nearly 50 flights were cancelled.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board said it needs more time and submissions from each party before deciding whether to create a collective agreement via binding arbitration, as proposed by WestJet earlier this week.
Loblaw says it’s on track to open 40 new stores, convert dozens this year
Loblaw celebrated the opening its 16th new location in May, a small-format No Frills in downtown Toronto and says it’s on track to open 40 new stores this yer and convert dozens more.
The new stores are part of a larger announcement in February of this year, whereby the company committed to a capital investment of more than $2 billion dollars into the economy in 2024. This investment is expected to create more than 7,500 jobs in Canada.
BCRSP and CRBOH streamline path to certification by both bodies
On June 14, the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP) ratified a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Canadian Registration Board of Occupational Hygienists (CRBOH).
The new agreement, signed in Moncton, N.B., in advance of the BCRSP governing board meeting, will give BCRSP and CRBOH certificants alternative routes to achieve certification.
Frontier Networks to resell Starlink internet in Canada and U.S.
Frontier Networks has become an authorized reseller of SpaceX-engineered and operated satellite internet constellation, Starlink. This agreement allows Frontier Networks to offer Starlink’s satellite internet services to customers in Canada and the U.S.
Did you know?
Focus on Technology
Will AI threaten jobs in grocery?
Artificial intelligence, AI, seems to have the same forewarning as “The British are coming!” – Paul Revere’s famous cry on that April night in 1775. But even Paul himself knew that the British were already here. So has been the case with AI.
Its origins go back to 1950 when Alan Turing published his work “Computer Machinery and Intelligence”. It eventually became The Turing Test, in what was used to measure computer intelligence. In 1952 computer scientist Artur Samuel developed a program to play checkers, which was the first to ever learn the game independently. John McCarthy, Princeton Ph.D. in Mathematics, held a workshop in 1955 at Dartmouth on “artificial intelligence” which is the first use of the phrase.
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.
