In this edition:
- Applications open for Starter Company Plus
- University of Niagara Falls invites employers to on-campus Opportunity Fair
- Alectra recognized as one of Canada’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens for 2025
- Niagara Health reports $26M deficit
- Ontario invests $215M to support provincial shipbuilding sector
- Government of Canada opens applications for AI Compute Access Fund
- Ontario gas prices expected to see huge drops
- Landlords warned that agreeing with competitors on rental prices is illegal
- Day trips to U.S. down more than 40% year-over-year
- New ward boundaries for Port Colborne’s election next year
- DHL Express, union reach tentative agreement, Unifor says
- Focus on Canada-U.S. Business
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Photo credit: City of St. Catharines
Applications open for Starter Company Plus
The St. Catharines Enterprise Centre is accepting applications for the 2025 Starter Company Plus program.
Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade and delivered by the St. Catharines Enterprise Centre, Starter Company Plus supports businesses that are new start-ups, within the first two years of operations, part-time and expanding into full time operations, or a newly purchased business.
Picture credit: University of Niagara Falls Canada / supplied
University of Niagara Falls Canada invites employers to on-campus Opportunity Fair
An upcoming event at the University of Niagara Falls Canada will connect its digitally focused students with employers from around the region for its first-ever Opportunity Fair.
Hosted by UNF’s Career Services team, the Opportunity Fair will provide a space for Niagara organizations to showcase their workplace and position themselves as leading employers to a diverse group of emerging professionals who are eager to begin their careers.
Picture credit: Alectra Inc. / supplied
Alectra Inc. recognized by Corporate Knights as one of Canada’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens for 2025
Alectra Inc. is ranked among Canada’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens for 2025 by Corporate Knights, marking its seventh consecutive year on the list. Alectra placed second among transmission and distribution utilities and 11th overall in the annual ranking.
Picture credit: Niagara Health
Niagara Health reports $26M deficit
Niagara Health’s deficit more than doubled to $26 million this year, “driven by rising costs, increasing demand and broader system challenges,” the hospital system said in a statement.
It’s the third year the hospital has ended its fiscal year on March 31 in the red, after reporting a deficit of $9.5 million for 2023-24 and $ 5.7 million in 2022-23 — according to audited financial reports posted on its website.
Picture credit: Michael Zweip / Office of the Hon. Sam Oosterhoff
Ontario invests $215M to support provincial shipbuilding sector
The Ontario government is investing $215 million to support shipbuilding and the broader marine sector in the province, including through the establishment of a $15 million Ontario Shipbuilding Grant Program (OSGP) to expand the province’s shipbuilding sector.
The support provided through the OSGP, announced today at Ontario Shipyards in St. Catharines, will ensure Ontario is positioned to support Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy and support Ontario manufacturing businesses and workers in the face of U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty.
Picture credit: Andrey Popov / Adobe Stock
Government of Canada opens applications for the AI Compute Access Fund
Today, the Government of Canada opened applications for the AI Compute Access Fund, a key initiative under the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. This fund will provide up to $300 million for affordable access to compute power for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to develop made-in-Canada AI products and solutions.
Photo credit: Kate / Adobe Stock
Ontario gas prices expected to see huge drops
Don’t buy your gasoline today as gas prices are set to fall across Ontario over the coming days, says Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy.
The price drop is the result of the recently announced, though potentially fragile, ceasefire in the Israel-Iran conflict.
Picture credit: Andrii Yalanskyi / Adobe Stock
Landlords and property managers warned that agreeing with competitors on rental prices is illegal
The Competition Bureau of Canada has warned that landlords and property managers engaging with their competitors on rental prices, leasing agreements, and restricting rental supply, including through discussion groups on social media, may be illegal.
Engaging in illegal agreements with competitors, such as price-fixing, market allocation, restricting supply, or wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements, is a criminal offence under the Competition Act, with potential prison sentences of up to 14 years and hefty fines at the discretion of the court.
Picture credit: Rick Beauregard / Adobe Stock
Day trips to U.S. down more than 40% year-over-year
Same-day travel to the United States by automobile dropped abruptly at the start of 2025, Statistics Canada reported today, after holding consistently positive throughout 2024. Same-day returns fell by 40.3% year over year in May 2025, marking a fourth consecutive month of steep decline. Meanwhile, overnight travel decreased by 34.3%.
Picture credit: City of Port Colborne
New ward boundaries for Port Colborne’s election next year
City councillors have approved a new ward boundary structure that will take effect for Port Colborne’s 2026 municipal election, opting for a revised version of the city’s four-ward system to reflect population growth.
Picture credit: Belish / Adobe Stock
DHL Express, union reach tentative agreement, Unifor says
Unifor says it has reached a tentative agreement with DHL Express Canada, paving the way for the company to resume operations.
The union says details of the agreement will not be disclosed until after a ratification vote is held which is expected in the coming days.
Focus on Canada-U.S. Business
How much did Canada’s trade retaliation and boycotts actually hurt the U.S.?
Trevor Tombe, University of Calgary
While the broad 25 percent tariffs once floated by President Donald Trump never fully materialized, Canada’s retaliatory measures—covering over 1,800 U.S. product lines, representing more than $90 billion in Canadian imports from the U.S. last year—remain largely in place.Though some exemptions and supports have softened the impact (and created confusion), the economic consequences of these tariffs are starting to take shape.
Newly released trade data for April 2025 allow us to take a detailed look at how Canadian imports have shifted in response.
The numbers reveal a sharp drop in goods targeted by retaliatory tariffs. In contrast, any effect of the broader consumer-led boycott of U.S. products is harder to detect.
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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.
