In this edition:
- Canada Post strike: What you need to know about mail deliveries and exceptions
- Finalists and bestowed award recipients announced for 21st Annual Niagara Business Achievement Awards
- ‘Hit by a tsunami’: Grimsby population forecast to surge to 51,000 by 2051
- Bank of Canada faces dilemma as core inflation heats up
- Energy prices fall year over year in April
- Tim Hortons’ Smile Cookie campaign a success in Niagara
- Port Colborne’s Clean Community Day to provide free disposal services on May 24
- Focus on Climate
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Photo credit: TesDesigns / Adobe Stock
Canada Post strike: What you need to know about mail deliveries and exceptions
More than 55,000 Canada Post workers could go on strike later this week, bringing mail and parcel deliveries to a halt.
According to a strike notice, postal workers plan to hit the picket lines starting at midnight on Friday, May 23.
Here’s what you need to know.
Photo Credit: Giant Shoe Creative Agency / Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce
Finalists and bestowed award recipients announced for 21st Annual Niagara Business Achievement Awards
The GNCC has announced the finalists and bestowed award recipients for the 2025 Niagara Business Achievement Awards, now celebrating its 21st year of recognizing excellence in business across the region.
Every year, the NBAAs highlight the outstanding contributions of local businesses and professionals who demonstrate innovation, leadership, and impact in the Niagara region. This year’s event will showcase the remarkable stories of our nominees and recipients who represent the strength and diversity of Niagara’s economic community. .
Photo credit: Harold Stiver / Adobe Stock
‘Hit by a tsunami’: Grimsby population forecast to surge to 51,000 by 2051
In the next 25 years, Grimsby’s population is expected to grow by about two-thirds.
An intensification study and presentation was received by town council on May 12.
“Based on our analysis, the town has significant potential to accommodate future growth, and this is despite the fact that there is a very limited supply of vacant greenfield land,” said Jaclyn Hall, an associate with Toronto-based Hemson Consulting Ltd.
Photo credit: Iryna / Adobe Stock
Bank of Canada faces dilemma as core inflation heats up
Headline inflation slowed in April mainly due to drop in gasoline prices because of the elimination of the federal carbon tax, but it was a different story for the measures the Bank of Canada follows.
Statistics Canada said Tuesday the main reading on the consumer price index (CPI) decelerated to 1.7 per cent year over year just ahead of analysts’ estimates of 1.6 per cent and down from 2.3 per cent in March.
Gas prices fell 18.1 per cent in April, also helped by lower oil prices, pushing the overall inflation rate below the Bank of Canada’s two per cent target for the first time since January.
Illustration Credit: Statistics Canada
Energy prices fall year over year in April
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.7% year over year in April, down from a 2.3% increase in March. The slowdown in April was driven by lower energy prices, which fell 12.7% following a 0.3% decline in March. Excluding energy, the CPI rose 2.9% in April, following a 2.5% increase in March.
Moderating the slowdown in the CPI in April were higher prices for travel tours (+6.7%) and food purchased from stores (+3.8%).
Gasoline led the decline in consumer energy prices, falling 18.1% year over year in April, following a 1.6% decline in March. The price decrease in April was mainly driven by the removal of the consumer carbon price.
Photo Credit: JHVEPhoto / Adobe Stock
Tim Hortons’ Smile Cookie campaign a success in Niagara
This spring’s Smile Cookie Campaign in Niagara was very successful.
Pathstone Foundation and Autism Ontario’s Niagara Region Chapter will each receive a donation of $43,000.
The campaign supports local charities by donating $2 from every cookie sold.
Photo Credit: City of Port Colborne
Port Colborne’s Clean Community Day to provide free disposal services on May 24
Spring cleaning just got easier with the return of Port Colborne’s Clean Community Day on Saturday, May 24.
The free community initiative offers residents a convenient and responsible way to dispose of bulky and damaged property debris, including broken furniture, mattresses, and even the kitchen sink. The event will take place at the Engineering and Operations Centre parking lot, located at 1 Killaly St. W. Dumpsters will be available to the public beginning at 9 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis, and collection will continue until dumpsters reach capacity.
Focus on Climate
Stained, warped and terroir rich: the global and shockingly sustainable lives of wine barrels
Kiki Aranita, The Guardian
No one at Tucson’s Hamilton Distillers knows exactly what wood the cognac barrels holding whiskey are made of.
“Probably Spanish oak?” one employee ventures a guess. The age of the barrels is also a question mark. No one working here is old enough to vouch for that; the distillery believes they are anywhere from 100 to 125 years old, which is old in the grand scheme of barrels’ lifespans, but not unusual. But it can say with certainty, using records of its vintages, that these barrels are on their fifth use — at least.
In the alcohol industry, when ageing liquor can easily take decades, the vessels that house them can also become more covetable over the years. In an age of disposable materials and dire news of plastics polluting our environment, reused wooden barrels exist in stark contrast. The lives of barrels are long, shockingly sustainable and currently imperiled by trade war.
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.
