In this edition:
- City of Welland launches new app to put City services at residents’ fingertips
- Employment inventory building snapshot of Niagara’s economy
- Niagara Health welcomes new Board Chair and new Board Members
- Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce and Tourism NOTL announce leadership transition
- Ontario raising speed limits on provincial highways including 406 and QEW
- Grimsby council not impressed with ‘vague’ rebranding proposal
- Cyber Centre warns AI is accelerating cyber threats
- Foreign control of Canadian assets continues to decline
- Manufacturing sales rise in advance estimate
- Homes under $500,000 account for growing proportion of Ontario real estate
- Focus on Human Resources
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Featured content by Meridian
Credit Card Processing for Small Business: Costs, Fees & Providers in Canada
If you’re thinking about credit and debit card processing for your business, or if you already accept credit cards and are looking to switch providers, below are some key points to consider when opening a new merchant account or switching your credit card processing.
- Choose an experienced and reliable payment processor
- Do they fully disclose all fees and charges?
- Do they rent or lease Point of Sale (POS) terminals
- Prioritize security and PCI compliance
- Look for dedicated support and service
- Review your merchant statements carefully
Choosing the right credit card processing provider in Canada can help you reduce costs, improve payment security, and streamline your operations. By understanding fees, evaluating POS options, and prioritizing reliable support, you can make a more informed decision for your business.
Picture credit: City of Welland
City of Welland launches new app to put City services at residents’ fingertips
The City of Welland has launched a new mobile app designed to provide residents with convenient, centralized access to City services, information, and updates.
Developed as part of the City’s ongoing commitment to modernize service delivery, the app responds to growing expectations for mobile-first, on-demand access. It brings together a wide range of tools and resources into a single, easy-to-use platform available anytime and anywhere.
Picture credit: yurolaitsalbert / Adobe Stock
Employment inventory building snapshot of Niagara’s economy
Business by business and conversation by conversation, Niagara’s employment inventory is building a picture of the region’s workforce and economic landscape — one community leaders, economic development officials and employers can draw on long after the year ends.
Picture credit: Niagara Health
Niagara Health welcomes new Board Chair and new Board Members
Niagara Health is pleased to announce the appointment of Charlie Rate as Niagara Health Board Chair, effective June 23, 2026. Rate has served as Board Vice Chair since 2023 and brings extensive leadership experience, including expertise in engineering, construction, project management and infrastructure operations. Marylee O’Neill, who is concluding her service on the Board, has served as Chair for the past three years.
Picture credit: Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce/Tourism NOTL
Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce and Tourism NOTL announce leadership transition
The Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce and Tourism NOTL have announced that effective July 1st, Kathy Weiss will remain as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tourism NOTL, while Terry Dow has been appointed Interim Executive Director of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce.
This transition comes one year after the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism NOTL formally separated into two distinct organizations.
Photo credit: mikecleggphoto / Adobe Stock
Ontario raising speed limits on provincial highways including 406 and QEW
The Ontario government is raising the speed limit from 100 km/hour to 110 km/hour on an additional 938 kilometres of provincial highways. The change builds on the increase to speeds on 10 sections of provincial highways in 2024 and six sections of provincial highways in 2022, aligning with posted speed limits in other jurisdictions across Canada.
Picture credit: Town of Grimsby
Grimsby council not impressed with ‘vague’ rebranding proposal
Grimsby town staff and a consultant are going back to the drawing board with the proposed branding logo and tag line for the municipality after they received a cool reception at council.
“I neither like the tag line or the logo,” said Ward 4 Coun. Nick DiFlavio following a June 15 presentation by consulting firm Scott Thornley and Co.
Picture credit: Song_about_summer / Adobe Stock
Cyber Centre warns AI is accelerating cyber threats
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security is urging organizations to strengthen their defences as frontier AI models make cyber attacks faster and easier to carry out. The agency warned that AI can help threat actors find and exploit vulnerabilities, create more convincing phishing and deepfake scams, and shorten response windows from days or weeks to hours. Businesses are being advised to reinforce basic cyber hygiene, including prompt patching, strong authentication, centralized logging, incident response testing, and clear internal rules for responsible AI use.
Picture credit: Jerome / Adobe Stock
Foreign control of Canadian assets continues to decline
Foreign-controlled enterprises held $2.6 trillion in Canadian assets in 2024, accounting for 13.9% of total corporate assets as the foreign-controlled share continued its steady decline since 2010. Canadian-controlled enterprises held $16.2 trillion in assets, or 86.1% of the total, after growing faster than foreign-controlled firms over the year. The United States remained by far the largest source of foreign-controlled assets at 55.9%, while foreign control was highest in wholesale trade, manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, and mining and quarrying.
Picture credit: chitsanupong / Adobe Stock
Manufacturing sales rise in advance estimate
Statistics Canada’s advance estimate indicates that manufacturing sales rose 1.1% in May, led by gains in the motor vehicle industry group and the chemical subsector. The agency cautioned that the estimate is based on a 70.2% weighted response rate, below the 92.5% average final response rate over the previous year, meaning the figure is subject to larger-than-usual revisions. The early result points to a stronger month for factory output after April’s manufacturing sales increase.
Picture credit: NINENII / Adobe Stock
Homes under $500,000 account for growing proportion of Ontario real estate
A new report says homes valued under $500,000 are taking up a bigger share of Ontario’s real estate landscape, led by a shift in the condominium market.
New data released by the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. showed those lower-valued homes now account for nearly 24 per cent of Ontario’s real estate market, up from 17 per cent in 2022.
Focus on Human Resources
Aggressive income tax relief could bolster employer apprenticeship participation
Benjamin Lamb, Daily Commercial News
If governments want more apprentices in the trades, they must make it easier for employers to say yes.
Governments should take aggressive income tax relief more seriously as an affordability measure. Employers do not hire apprentices out of charity. They do it when they have enough confidence, work and margin to take a risk on someone still learning.
Canada does not lack attention on the skilled trades. Governments have invested in campaigns, grants, incentives and outreach, and that work has helped. Statistics Canada reported new apprenticeship registrations reached 101,541 in 2024, a record high since the series began in 2008.
But certifications were still 9.6 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. The pipeline is fuller at the front than at the finish line. The issue is not only attracting young people to the trades, but part of it is also whether employers can afford to carry them through.
That is the missing link.
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.
