In this edition:
- Canada Post says it has reached a deal with 2nd-largest union, CPAA
- Welland launches Strategic Plan dashboard
- Ontario to provide ice storm recovery funding for businesses, municipalities
- Niagara Regional Police Service alerts businesses to increase in POS device refund fraud
- Alectra Utilities offers energy conservation tips amid heatwave-driven electricity demand
- Ontario’s AI sector sees 17,000 jobs created and 70 new companies established, according to new report
- With vacation rental licensing freeze ending soon, NOTLers weigh in on future of rental rules
- Trips to Canada by Americans down 9% year-over-year
- Canada’s AI literacy lagging behind: KPMG research
- VIA Rail and Unifor reach tentative agreement, avoiding a strike
- Focus on Canada-U.S. Business
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Photo credit: Julia / Adobe Stock
Canada Post says it has reached a deal with 2nd-largest union, CPAA
Canada Post says it has reached a deal with the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association (CPAA), the second-largest union representing its workers.
The union represents 8,500 of the Crown corporation’s employees, most of whom are responsible for managing post offices in rural areas of the country.
Picture credit: City of Welland
Welland launches Strategic Plan dashboard
The City of Welland has launched a new online dashboard to track and share progress on the City’s 2023–2026 Strategic Plan. Available on the City’s website, the dashboard promotes transparency and keeps residents informed about initiatives, milestones, and timelines tied to Council’s strategic priorities.
Picture credit: Julitt / Adobe Stock
Ontario to provide ice storm recovery funding for businesses, municipalities
The Ontario government says it’s introducing two financial assistance programs to help municipalities and businesses recover from a severe March ice storm.
The storm in late March left nearly 400,000 homes and businesses with power outages and damaged property as freezing rain covered parts of Ontario in layers of ice.
Photo credit: Niagara Regional Police Service
Niagara Regional Police Service alerts businesses to increase in POS device refund fraud
The Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) is warning local businesses about an increase in fraudulent activity involving point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Criminals are increasingly targeting these devices—stealing or swapping machines, or installing malicious hardware—to initiate fraudulent refunds onto credit cards under their control. These types of fraud are costing businesses thousands of dollars in chargebacks and fees, not to mention potential damage to their reputations.
Picture credit: bancha / Adobe Stock
Alectra Utilities offers energy conservation tips amid heatwave-driven electricity demand
Alectra Utilities is urging customers to be mindful of their energy consumption to manage summertime electricity bills in response to a prolonged heatwave affecting Southern Ontario. Keeping cool can get costly, but there are ways to conserve electricity in homes and businesses.
Photo credit: Summit Art Creations / Adobe Stock
Ontario’s AI sector sees 17,000 jobs created and 70 new companies established, according to new report
Ontario is still a leading global AI hub with more than 17,000 new AI jobs created, 70 new AI companies established and $2.6 billion invested, according to a new report by non-profit AI research organization, Vector Institute.
The annual Ontario AI Snapshot, produced by Vector in partnership with Deloitte Canada, covers the period from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.
Photo credit: Andrii Yalanskyi / Adobe Stock
With vacation rental licensing freeze ending soon, NOTLers weigh in on future of rental rules
If there’s been any doubt that vacation rentals are a passionate issue in Niagara-on-the-Lake, events in council erased doubts, especially as the freeze on new short-term rental licences is expected to expire in July.
Town council met late last month to discuss what to do next about short-term rental rules in the town. A bylaw was passed by town council in 2021, which defined the different kinds of short-term rental properties and gave the town greater power to regulate them.
Picture credit: photobyphotoboy / Adobe Stock
Trips to Canada by Americans down 9% year-over-year
In April, the number of trips to Canada by US residents decreased 8.9% year over year, while the number of trips to Canada by overseas residents edged down 0.6%.
In April, the top three countries of residence for overseas visitors were the United Kingdom (61,500), France (39,600) and Mexico (39,500), accounting for 34.4% of all overseas arrivals in Canada.
Photo credit: phonlamaiphoto / Adobe Stock
Canada’s AI literacy lagging behind: KPMG research
Canadians have among the lowest levels of training, literacy and trust in artificial intelligence systems in the world, new research from KPMG International and the University of Melbourne shows.
Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025 is a study looking into the public’s trust, use and attitudes towards AI. The study reportedly surveyed over 48,000 people in 30 advanced economies and 17 emerging economies, including 1,025 people in Canada.
Picture credit: SockaGPhoto / Adobe Stock
VIA Rail and Unifor reach tentative agreement, avoiding a strike
Via Rail has reached a tentative deal with the union representing 2,400 of its workers across the country, the Crown corporation said on Friday.
The deal averts a walkout involving members of Unifor, who had voted for a strike mandate to be exercised as early as Sunday.
Focus on Canada-U.S. Business
‘Let’s horse trade’: How tariffs are impacting Canadian construction contracts
Grant Cameron, ConstructConnect
U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs, and the cloud of uncertainty they’ve cast over economies around the globe, will have implications for Canada’s construction industry and could affect language in future contracts, according to senior lawyers at Dentons Canada LLP in Toronto.
Karen Groulx, a partner, and Dragana Cerovina, a senior associate at the firm, note there are several items on Canada’s retaliatory tariff list that are regularly imported for use in construction. The two recently posted an article on Dentons website that dealt with the issue.
Some of those items include sheet piling made of iron or steel, structural steel components such as beams, columns and frames, aluminum pipes and tubes, cabinet hardware fittings and window fixtures. Prefabricated buildings, frames, doors and windows are also subject to tariffs.
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.
