In this edition:
- Bank of Canada holds policy rate at 2.75%
- 10-storey hotel proposal for NOTL’s Glendale area under review
- Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines making room for new downtown space
- Ontario among staycation boom as 2 million Canadians ditch U.S. trips for local tourist destinations in April
- Ford government passes anti-encampment bill with some Liberal support
- Unifor calls for immediate countermeasures in Canada as U.S. doubles steel and aluminum tariffs
- Competition Bureau urges retailers and landlords to drop property controls
- Government of Ontario introduces 2025 red tape legislation
- Focus on Finance & Economy
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Photo credit: Iryna / Adobe Stock
Bank of Canada holds policy rate at 2.75%
The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 2.75%, with the Bank Rate at 3% and the deposit rate at 2.70%.
Since the April Monetary Policy Report, the US administration has continued to increase and decrease various tariffs. China and the United States have stepped back from extremely high tariffs and bilateral trade negotiations have begun with a number of countries. However, the outcomes of these negotiations are highly uncertain, tariff rates are well above their levels at the beginning of 2025, and new trade actions are still being threatened. Uncertainty remains high.
Photo credit: Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake
10-storey hotel proposal for NOTL’s Glendale area under review
The owner of Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express hotels in Glendale is proposing to build another hotel and two restaurants on the same property.
Hamilton-based Niagara York Road Inc. applied to Niagara-on-the-Lake planning staff to redesignate the property to a site-specific hospitality precinct to allow for a 10-storey building with 207 suites on 2.83 hectares of land.
Picture credit: Niagara Artists Centre
Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines making room for new downtown space
Niagara Artists Centre has begun knocking down its neighbours.
The St. Catharines cultural hub is in the process of demolishing two of the nearby derelict properties it purchased two years ago so it can build a creative space on St. Paul Street.
Photo credit: belyaaa / Adobe Stock
Ontario among staycation boom as 2 million Canadians ditch U.S. trips for local tourist destinations in April
More Canadians are seeking ways to explore our nation, as two million travellers chose to stay within our borders in April.
Statistics Canada (StatCan) released its monthly travel data on June 2, which showed domestic traffic was 7.4 per cent higher than April 2024 and surpassed the pre-pandemic level recorded in April 2019.
Picture credit: loga25 / Adobe Stock
Ford government passes anti-encampment bill with some Liberal support
The Ontario legislature has passed the Safer Municipalities Act, which aims to break up homeless encampments and would allow police to confront, arrest and fine anyone they suspect of using drugs in public.
Bill 6 allows fines of up to $10,000 for people found to have broken trespassing or public-consumption laws. Breaking the new consumption law could also mean a six-month jail sentence.
Picture credit: littlewolf1989 / Adobe Stock
Unifor calls for immediate countermeasures in Canada as U.S. doubles steel and aluminum tariffs
Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, is urging the federal government to act “without delay to defend Canada’s manufacturing sector and counter the escalating trade assault.”
The union is calling on the federal government to:
- Enact immediate retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum to match the 50% rate;
- Implement new border measures to prevent unfairly traded or dumped foreign steel and aluminum from entering Canada;
- Temporarily halt exports of strategic metals to the U.S. and building a national stockpile reserve;
- Strengthen the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA) to block companies from relocating Canadian jobs in response to U.S. pressure.
Picture credit: NINENII / Adobe Stock
Competition Bureau urges retailers and landlords to drop property controls
The Competition Bureau is urging retailers and landlords to drop or change competitor property controls that are not justified even if they do not raise issues under the Competition Act.
In new guidance released Wednesday, the watchdog encouraged companies to only use property controls, which can make it more difficult for firms to enter new markets or expand, where they increase competition.
Photo credit: Maurizio De Mattei / Adobe Stock
Government of Ontario introduces 2025 red tape legislation
Today, the Ontario government introduced the Protect Ontario by Cutting Red Tape Act, 2025. The Act contains few elements that would broadly affect Niagara businesses, but an overview can be read here.
Focus on Finance & Economy
‘Mixed signals everywhere you look’: Experts react to BoC rate hold
The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady on Wednesday, as was widely expected, and two experts say conflicting economic data is likely what kept the bank on the sidelines.
For a second straight decision, Canada’s central bank announced it will hold its overnight interest rate at 2.75 per cent. The two rate holds followed seven consecutive cuts from the bank over the past year.
Though a hold was expected by economists and priced in by markets, many experts expected a more dovish tone from the central bank considering the potential for mass economic damage from the ongoing trade conflict with the U.S.
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.
