Two weeks left to apply for Grimsby Digital Transformation Grant
The Digital Transformation Grant application deadline is November 30th, 2021. Businesses have two weeks to get their applications in for the $2,500 grant.
Grimsby’s Digital Service Squad (DSS) member is here to help your business apply for the $2,500 so that you can create a Digital Transformation Plan, adopt online technologies and digitally transform sales.
While the grant deadline is November 30th, the Digital Main Street program will be running until February 28, 2022.
Since July, Grimsby’s DSS member has worked with 34 local businesses to introduce them to online training modules that will build their knowledge and skills, assists businesses with developing their Digital Transformation Plan and apply for a one-time $2,500 grant to implement it.
Local businesses who are interested in learning more about Digital Main Street are encouraged to contact the Town’s Digital Service Squad member.
Click here for more information.
Lincoln approves budget with tax increase of 2.68%
On November 10, the Town of Lincoln’s Budget – Committee of the Whole (COW) approved the 2022 Budget, which was ratified by Town of Lincoln Council at its meeting on November 15.
The budget represents a 2.68% increase on the Town’s portion of the tax bill, below the current inflation rate of 4.4%. The increase is further broken down to an increase of 2.18% towards Municipal services including all Town departments and Lincoln Public Library, plus a special infrastructure levy of 0.5%, totalling 2.68%.
Visit SpeakUpLincoln.ca/Budget-2022 to learn more about the Town of Lincoln’s 2022 Budget, including details about projects in 2022, information on the budget process and tax dollar distribution by service area.
Niagara Health intensive care research projects may improve patient care nationwide
Niagara Health has two new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) research studies underway, one to better understand health outcomes for COVID-19 patients and the other to inform the development of a national strategy to expand clinical research in community hospitals in Canada.
Niagara Health is conducting a two-year study on health outcomes of patients with COVID-19 in Ontario ICUs that will examine demographics, clinical characteristics, life support therapies and outcome data for patients with COVID-19, and a three-year study on the role community hospitals play in filling the gaps in Canada’s clinical research infrastructure.
Click here for more information.
Industrial prices up 16.7% year-over-year
According to flash estimates, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) was up 1.3% month over month in October. Year over year, the index rose 16.7%.
Energy and petroleum products (+7.6%) led the monthly growth in the IPPI. The gain in this group was driven mostly by higher prices for refined petroleum energy products (including liquid biofuels) (+8.1%). This rise is partially attributable to a supply-demand imbalance for petroleum.
The lumber and other wood products group (+5.4%) was the second largest contributor to the month-over-month gain in the IPPI in October, after posting four consecutive monthly declines. The upward movement was mainly due to higher prices for softwood lumber (+11.1%).
Primary non-ferrous metal products (+2.2%) also supported the monthly gain in the IPPI in October. The growth in this group was mainly driven by higher prices for other unwrought non-ferrous metals and non-ferrous metal alloys (+9.6%), unwrought aluminum and aluminum alloys (+4.6%), and basic and semi-finished products of aluminum and aluminum alloys (+7.2%).
Click here for more information.
Moderna requests authorization from Health Canada to use SpikeVax COVID-19 vaccine in children 6 to 11 years of age
Today, Health Canada received a submission from Moderna seeking authorization for the use of its Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine in children 6 to 11 years of age. Health Canada will only authorize the use of Spikevax in children if its independent and thorough scientific review of the data in the submission shows that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks in this age group. The assessment will include a detailed review of clinical trial results, as well as other evolving data and information about the health impacts of COVID-19 and variants of concern on children in Canada.
Click here for more information.
Niagara Medical Officer of Health to offer briefing and take questions
Tomorrow at 11am, Niagara Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mustafa Hirji will deliver an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in Niagara and take questions from the live audience at a GNCC webinar. A video of the webinar will also be available for later viewing. Attendance is free; interested parties can register and pose questions here.
Reading Recommendations
Trudeau risks stoking inflation with more big spending, Scotiabank warns
The Financial Post
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is at risk of adding to Canada’s inflation problem if it unveils more big-ticket spending measures this fall, a Bank of Nova Scotia economist said in a note to clients.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to give the government’s first major statement on taxes and spending since Trudeau’s Liberal Party won re-election, including tens of billions in new spending. She should refrain from adding that stimulus to an already hot inflationary environment, Scotiabank’s Rebekah Young said Monday.
Canada has reported inflation of higher than 3 per cent — the upper end of the Bank of Canada’s control range — for six straight months. That streak is almost certain to reach seven months when October’s inflation numbers come out on Wednesday: Economists are expecting a 4.7 per cent price rise.
The Globe and Mail
Payroll taxes are set to surge next year as the pandemic economy’s dynamics amplify the costs for companies and their employees for the Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance.
Both contribution rates and maximum contributions will rise sharply for the CPP in 2022, according to recently released information. For EI, rates are frozen for the second year, but maximum contributions will jump.
The dual increases mean that employers face accelerating growth in the combined EI and CPP maximum contributions, which will hit $4,833.64 – an increase of 18 per cent in just two years.
Those soaring costs are an expensive intersection of political decisions to boost pension benefits in coming decades, the statistical quirk of rising average wages during the pandemic, and a funding model that dumps the costs of recessions onto employees and employers.
Niagara COVID-19 statistics tracker
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker
Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses. Visit gncc.ca/workplace-self-screening-kits to learn more and reserve kits for your organization.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here. The GNCC is here to support you. Contact us with any questions you have.
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.
