In this edition:
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- Businesses report pressures easing, but concerns over inflation, costs, and supply chains remain
- StatCan report casts clouds on claims of a widespread labour shortage in Canada
- More Canadian companies adopt ‘stay interviews’ amid push to retain staff
- Government of Canada officially launches $755M Social Finance Fund
- CBSA proposes regulatory changes to reduce burden on Canadian importers
- Majority of boards in Canada have no women directors: StatCan
- Meridian Announces Invest in Good – Series 23 Shares
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Businesses report pressures easing, but concerns over inflation, costs, and supply chains remain
Statistics Canada conducted the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions from April to early May 2023. The survey collects information on the environment businesses are currently operating in and their expectations moving forward.
Nearly one in four businesses (22.9%) were facing challenges maintaining inventory levels or acquiring inputs, products or supplies, either domestically or abroad. Additionally, 14.7% of businesses expected these challenges to worsen in the short term. Over the next three months, nearly half of businesses expected their operating expenses to increase, nearly 3 in 10 businesses expected their profitability to decrease, nearly 3 in 10 expected to increase the prices they charge and four-fifths expected their number of employees to remain the same.
StatCan report casts clouds on claims of a widespread labour shortage in Canada
More Canadian companies adopt ‘stay interviews’ amid push to retain staff
When Tara Vanderloo’s employees are mulling leaving her enterprise software company, she wants to be one of the first people they tell – and to hear their unvarnished reasons why.
“I know people get called by recruiters, so I’ve asked the question: ‘who are you talking to or what type of organizations?”’ said the chief experience officer at Sensei Labs in Toronto.
“Have you had any thoughts or are you questioning why you want to be here?”
Government of Canada officially launches $755M Social Finance Fund
Social purpose organizations, such as social enterprises, non-profits, charities and co‑operatives, are at the forefront of tackling Canada’s persistent social and environmental challenges, and they are key contributors to the Canadian economy. However, social purpose organizations face barriers and systemic biases that exist in the current finance ecosystem.
Today, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, officially launched the $755 million Social Finance Fund, which is a groundbreaking, long-term initiative to advance the growth of the social finance market in Canada. The Social Finance Fund is a foundational element to the Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy, along with the Investment Readiness Program and the Social Innovation Advisory Council. Social innovation and social finance plays a fundamental role in tackling persistent challenges like access to affordable housing, food insecurity, and poverty.
CBSA proposes regulatory changes to reduce burden on Canadian importers
The CBSA is proposing amendments to the Valuation for Duty Regulations that will strengthen the statutory and regulatory frameworks to help Canadian importers compete on a more level playing field with foreign-based importers.
Currently, Canada’s regulatory framework on determining the value for duty of imported goods does not align with international consensus established at the World Customs Organization. This creates an unfair advantage for foreign-based importers as they can declare a lower priced sale in the trade chain to value their goods and pay less duty on imported goods. Creating a definition for “sold for export to Canada” and changing the definition of “purchaser in Canada” would allow us to address this misalignment.
Any interested parties, such as importers, businesses, and customs brokers, have until June 26, 2023 to submit written comments on the draft regulations.
Majority of boards in Canada have no women directors: StatCan
In 2020, women occupied just over one-fifth (20.5%) of the 17,996 seats on boards of directors, edging up 0.3 percentage points over the proportion of women recorded in 2019, according to new data on the gender composition of leadership and strategic decision-making roles within publicly traded corporations, privately held corporations and government business enterprises
The majority of boards of directors did not have any women directors: 59.7% of the 5,810 boards of directors included in the dataset were only composed of men.
Meridian Announces Invest in Good – Series 23 Shares
Meridian, Ontario’s largest credit union, announced today the launch of Invest in Good – Series 23 Class A Shares. Series 23 Shares provide a competitive annual minimum dividend rate of 6.5%* allowing Members to share in Meridian’s growth and success.
“Invest in Good – Series 23 Shares provide an exclusive opportunity for Members to build their financial confidence, while making a positive impact in our communities,” said Jay-Ann Gilfoy, President & CEO, Meridian. “The capital we raise through the sale of these Class A Shares will be used to enhance existing products, improve services for Members and invest in programs that address socio-economic challenges facing people and communities in Ontario.”
Did you know?
Focus on Small Business
How a “Pay-to-Quit” strategy can reveal your most motivated employees
Companies often need to reduce the size of their workforce. But how do managers decide which employees to let go and which to keep?
One often-overlooked parameter in the decision-making process is motivation. The math is simple: All else being equal, the more motivated employees are, the higher their value — which means managers should prioritize keeping highly motivated employees on board. The problem is, employees know that companies value motivation, so they have a strong incentive to appear motivated, even if they’re not. To work against that tendency, managers need to create incentives that will encourage employees to reveal their true levels of motivation.
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.
