In this edition:
- Applications for Starter Company Plus open June 10
- NC honours $4M legacy gift from Norris Walker family, renames campus courtyard
- Trump jumps back on tariff roller coaster with latest duties
- Applications for the i.d.e.a.™ Fund open June 16th
- Ontario’s green future gets a boost with Vineland & OCI collaboration
- Windsor’s hockey operations director taking over as IceDogs GM
- New home for Niagara Regional Exhibition found in rural Welland
- Premiers heap praise on meeting with Carney, but no specific projects identified
- Court approves Canadian Tire acquisition of Hudson’s Bay IP
- Strike continues for WSIB workers
- Removing Chinese tariffs on Canadian agriculture products a priority, says Carney
- Ontario to send ICT Export Business Mission to Mobile World Congress
- Economic upside to Canada from killing interprovincial trade barriers being oversold, says report
- Canada to take brunt of one of the worst slowdowns since the pandemic, warns OECD
- TD report calls into question Liberal promise of 500,000 housing starts a year
- Focus on Retail
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Picture credit: St. Catharines Enterprise Centre
Applications for Starter Company Plus open June 10
Starter Company Plus is a training and mentorship program for businesses that are new start-ups, within the first two years of operations, a part time business expanding into full time operations, or a newly purchased business. This program offers training in business planning, marketing, financials, and more.
Mentorship is available for eligible program participants and grants of up to $5,000 are available.
he Norris Walker Family joins Niagara College representatives as the new sign for the Norris Walker Family Courtyard is unveiled (from left): Hish Clifford (NCSAC President), Gord Arbeau (NC Vice-President, Advancement), Christopher Robinson, Dan Patterson (President Emeritus), Rob Bonapace, Sheila Bonapace, Heather Robinson, Olivia Robinson and Sean Kennedy (NC president). | Picture credit: Niagara College
NC honours $4M legacy gift from Norris Walker family, renames campus courtyard
A transformative $4-million bequest from the estate of long-time supporter Norris Woodruff Walker has become the largest estate gift in Niagara College history.
This landmark donation, which renews the lifelong legacy of service and philanthropy that defined Norris Walker, was announced on June 2 at the College’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Picture credit: Molly Riley / Office of the President of the United States
Trump jumps back on tariff roller coaster with latest duties
The president signed an order this afternoon doubling his tariff on steel and aluminum to 50%, from 25% as of 12:01 a.m.
That surprise tariff hike was announced last week at the home of US Steel in the aftermath of court orders that struck down some of his other levies. (It also followed Trump bristling at being asked about the TACO trade — Trump Always Chickens Out — a Wall Street bet that he ultimately shies away from his most aggressive trade actions.)
Picture credit: Innovate Niagara
Applications for the i.d.e.a.™ Fund open June 16th
i.d.e.a. Fund is a program that fosters inclusion, diversity, environment and acceleration while driving sustainable and circular economy growth, and is delivered in partnership with Ontario Regional Innovation Centres (RIC).
Innovate Niagara will be accepting applications from June 16 – July 7, 2025. There will also be three information sessions available for those interested.
Picture credit: Vineland Research and Innovation Centre
Ontario’s green future gets a boost with Vineland & OCI collaboration
Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (Vineland) and the Ontario Centres of Innovation (OCI) are pleased to announce a collaboration under Ontario’s Critical Industrial Technologies (CIT) initiative. This collaboration aims to drive innovation and commercialization in Ontario’s Agri-food sector by leveraging critical technologies such as AI and robotics.
Picture credit: Remo Agostino/Windsor Spitfires
Windsor’s hockey operations director taking over as IceDogs GM
On Monday, the Ontario Hockey League team introduced Frank Evola as the sixth general manager in the history of a franchise that dates back to the 2007-08 season.
The 52-year-old Windsor native, the Spitfires’ director of operations and director of scouting for the past eight seasons, was selected from a short list of 12, six of whom were interviewed, after more than 60 people applied to succeed Wes Consorti in the position.
Picture credit: Niagara Regional Exhibition
New home for Niagara Regional Exhibition found in rural Welland
Niagara Regional Exhibition is heading east, after finding a new home on Welland’s Darby Road, its fifth site in its 193-year-old history.
Picture credit: Office of the Prime Minister of Canada
Premiers heap praise on meeting with Carney, but no specific projects identified
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday’s gathering of the country’s premiers to talk over nation-building projects with Prime Minister Mark Carney was the “best” they have had in the last decade.
While the group mulled over a number of potential “nation-building” natural resource and infrastructure developments in private, they did not release a final list afterward that would show they accomplished something concrete.
Picture credit: Canmenwalker / CC BY 4.0
Court approves Canadian Tire acquisition of Hudson’s Bay IP
The Hudson’s Bay Company’s historic Canadian retail legacy entered a new phase this week as Ontario’s Superior Court approved Canadian Tire Corporation’s acquisition of the company’s intellectual property.
The ruling also marked another critical development in the ongoing unwinding of Hudson’s Bay, with the court granting a receivership order for the real estate joint venture between Hudson’s Bay and RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust.
Picture credit: Nathan / Adobe Stock
Strike continues for WSIB workers
The union representing workers at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has said the strike continues but they remain “fully committed to reaching a fair deal.”
Picture credit: Tom Fisk Photography / Adobe Stock
Removing Chinese tariffs on Canadian agriculture products a priority, says Carney
The federal government plans to work urgently to remove Chinese tariffs on Canadian agriculture and seafood products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday (June 2).
Photo credit: tippapatt / Adobe Stock
Ontario to send ICT Export Business Mission to Mobile World Congress
MWC Barcelona is the world’s largest and most influential annual exhibition for the mobile technology and connectivity industry with over 109,000 visitors from 205 countries and territories and over 2,900 exhibitors.
MWC provides an excellent showcase of Ontario mobile technology products, and solutions and provides companies with key opportunities to build business partnerships in the European market, with the intention of unlocking new export markets in Europe and increasing exports for Ontario companies already active in the markets.
The Government of Ontario is accepting applications from exhibitors.
Picture credit: andranik123 / Adobe Stock
Economic upside to Canada from killing interprovincial trade barriers being oversold, says report
Eliminating interprovincial trade barriers won’t boost Canada’s gross domestic product as much as forecasted, says a new report by the École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal (HEC).
“Even if we were to tackle the harmonization of provincial regulations — the real challenge — it would be utopian to envisage a 6.9 per cent rise in the country’s standard of living over the long term,” the report said.
Picture credit: Thaut Images / Adobe Stock
Canada to take brunt of one of the worst slowdowns since the pandemic, warns OECD
The global economy is headed for a downturn, and North America will be hardest hit, the world’s economic watchdog warned today.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Tuesday that barriers to trade, tighter financial conditions, weaker business and consumer confidence and heightened policy uncertainty will sap global growth in 2025.
Photo credit: karamysh / Adobe Stock
TD report calls into question Liberal promise of 500,000 housing starts a year
The Liberal government was elected on an ambitious housing plan that promises to build about 500,000 new homes a year, but a report by Toronto-Dominion Bank released on Tuesday said the proposed policies will fall short of achieving that objective.
Focus on Retail
Online orders to make up 17% of all grocery sales by end of 2029
Online grocery sales are expected to maintain an annual growth rate of 8.9% over the next five years, which is more than five times its in-store counterpart’s projected 1.7%, according to a new Brick Meets Click report.
Highlights of the report, U.S. Grocery Sales 5-Year Forecast: 2025-29, project online sales to make up 17% of all grocery sales by 2029.
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.
