In this edition:
Ontario tuition freeze extended until 2023
Canadian incomes rose 7.1% since 2021
Ontario’s first large-scale EV battery plant to open in Windsor
Ontario tuition freeze extended until 2023
The Ontario government is extending the current tuition freeze for colleges and universities by an additional year, through 2022-2023. The one-year extended tuition freeze for Ontario residents builds on Ontario’s historic 10 per cent reduction in tuition for the 2019-20 academic year, and the subsequent two-year freeze from 2020-22. These reductions represent the first of their kind in Ontario’s history. The government’s action to reduce and freeze tuition has provided students with tuition relief of about $450 million annually when compared to tuition costs in 2018-19.
Canadian incomes rose 7.1% since 2021
The median after-tax income of Canadian families and unattached individuals was $66,800 in 2020, which represented an increase of $4,400 (+7.1%) from the previous year. The increase in after-tax income was larger for lower-income individuals and families and was mainly driven by income support programs put in place to assist Canadians impacted by the COVID-19 economic shutdowns. Canada’s official poverty rate was 6.4% in 2020, down 3.9 percentage points from the previous year when it stood at 10.3%. Ontario had the largest annual increase, going from $65,100 in 2019 to $70,100 in 2020.
About 2.4 million Canadians, or 6.4% of the population, lived below Canada’s Official Poverty Line in 2020, down from 10.3% in 2019. The 3.9 percentage point decrease in the poverty rate represented about 1.4 million fewer Canadians in poverty. Although the national poverty rate for years before 2020 was generally trending downward, the large decrease observed from 2019 to 2020 was mostly attributable to the increases in government transfers.
Ontario’s first large-scale EV battery plant to open in Windsor
With the support of the Ontario, federal and municipal governments, LG Energy Solution and automaker Stellantis are joining forces to build the province’s first large-scale electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing plant.
The joint venture between LG Energy Solution, Ltd. (LGES) and Stellantis N.V. will invest more than CDN $5 billion (USD $4.1 billion) to build a facility in Windsor to manufacture batteries for EVs in Canada, representing the largest automotive manufacturing investment in the history of the province.
The battery facility, with a production capacity of 45 gigawatt hours (GWh) that will supply Stellantis plants in the North American market, will employ an estimated 2,500 people. Construction activities are scheduled to begin later this year with production operations planned to launch in the first quarter of 2024. The facility will be fully operational by 2025.
Reading Recommendations
Food affordability to become real issue in Canada
Financial Post
Update on Ukraine
Dumping vodka, banning Dostoevsky: some anti-Russian protests are empty gestures
The Guardian
Ukraine has inspired an unprecedented global response. Governments have supplied aid and arms to Ukrainians and organized severe sanctions against Russia’s economy, in the hopes of pressuring the Kremlin to back down.
Ordinary people around the world are finding their own ways to resist Russian aggression. The desire to do something, anything, as civilians are being massacred is part of what makes us human. It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of this much violence, so even small acts of protest can be meaningful.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has requested Americans stop buying from companies that have continued to do business with Russia – including the parent companies of Dunkin’ Donuts, Reebok and Subway – so it’s understandable people don’t want to find themselves on the wrong side of efforts to aid Ukraine.
But that doesn’t mean everything is helpful. Since the invasion began, we’ve been seeing some reactions that come across less as solidarity and more as empty symbolism, if not outright xenophobia.
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.
