In this edition:
- Carney will ask Governor General to dissolve Parliament Sunday and call election
- NotL motion to buy Canadian passed, but on hold until staff report is complete
- Bank of Canada to change policy, be less forward-looking, says governor
- Number of EI claimants in Niagara increased by almost 10% since 2024
- Canadian raw material prices up 9.3% year-over-year
- Focus on Retail
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The Right Honourable Mark Carney is sworn in as Prime Minister | Picture credit: The Right Honourable Mark Carney
Carney will ask Governor General to dissolve Parliament Sunday and call election, sources say
Prime Minister Mark Carney will ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and call a federal election this Sunday.
The election campaign will kick off barely a week after Carney was sworn in as prime minister and appointed his cabinet.
The latest Nanos Research ballot tracking numbers show the race between the top two federal parties still deadlocked in a virtual tie. Meanwhile, the polling firm’s seat projections show Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals have picked up significant gains in several regions.
Photo credit: Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake
NotL motion to buy Canadian passed, but on hold until staff report is complete
The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake has approved a Canadian purchasing policy, but it’ll still be a while before any action is taken.
As is often the case in NOTL, council is waiting on a staff report.
Photo credit: Bank of Canada / CC BY 2.0
Bank of Canada to change policy, be less forward-looking, says governor
The Bank of Canada on Thursday said the uncertainty over the effect of U.S. tariffs meant it had to change the way it conducted monetary policy to become less-forward looking than normal.
In a speech, Governor Tiff Macklem said the bank would be focusing less on policy for a specific outlook and more on policy that worked for different outcomes.
Picture credit: Khaohom Mali / Adobe Stock
Number of EI claimants in Niagara increased by almost 10% since 2024
6,010 Niagara residents claimed Employment Insurance (EI) in January 2025, up 9.9% since January 2024. This increase outpaced Ontario, whose 7.4% increase (11,000 claimants) was the largest year-over-year uptick of any Canadian province.
Year-over-year declines in other provinces offset this decline to yield a national increase of 1.6%.
Picture credit: jovannig / Adobe Stock
Canadian raw material prices up 9.3% year-over-year
Prices of products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), grew 0.4% month over month in February and increased 4.9% year over year. Prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), increased 0.3% month over month in February and rose 9.3% year over year.
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Focus on Retail
Grocery-anchored centres “still the most in-demand retail asset”
The number of grocery stores in Canada rose in 2024 and food retail chains plan on continuing that growth this year, particularly in the discount space to reach more price-conscious households.
“That’s in response to their individual business goals and to changing demographics,” JLL senior vice-president of retail Paul Ferreira told RENX. “We’re seeing some mainline stores converting to discount banners. A couple of the grocers also have ethnic grocery banners that may suit the particular trade area where that asset is located.”
“Grocery-anchored retail is still the most in-demand retail asset for its resiliency in the marketplace,” said Ferreira, who estimates such properties have a three to four per cent vacancy rate in Canada. “There’s a perceived security in that type of daily needs shopping centre and I would suspect that’s going to continue well into the future.”
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.
