U.S. will lift land border restrictions in November for vaccinated visitors
The United States will lift restrictions at its land borders with Canada and Mexico for fully vaccinated foreign nationals in early November, ending historic curbs on non-essential travelers in place since March 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement the administration next month “will begin allowing travelers from Mexico and Canada who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 to enter the United States for non-essential purposes, including to visit friends and family or for tourism, via land and ferry border crossings.”
The new rules are similar but not identical to planned requirements announced last month for international air travelers, U.S. officials said in a call earlier with reporters.
Click here for more information.
Welland asks Region to delay vote on consolidated transit system again
City of Welland Council is again asking the Region to delay the triple majority vote on a consolidated transit system until 2023, and asks that the following actions be completed:
- Updated financial models reflecting Welland, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, and Inter-Regional transit operating costs based upon council-approved 2022 budgets.
- Updated five-year transit capital budgets for Welland, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, and Inter-Regional transit, including costs and allocation percentages to lower-tier municipalities.
- Updated capital assets schedules for Welland, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, and Niagara.
Click here for more information (PDF link).
Ontario opening temporary Road Test Centre in Niagara Falls
The Ontario government is opening a temporary road test centre in Niagara Falls to increase testing capacity and help clear the backlog of road tests due to COVID-19.
Located at 6080 McLeod Road, the temporary centre will open on October 18, 2021, and offer class G2 and G road tests seven days a week between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Customers will be able to book road tests online at DriveTest.ca beginning October 14, 2021.
Click here for more information.
Ontario seeking input on a Capital Markets Act
The Ontario government is moving forward on the next step in its commitment to modernize the province’s capital markets with the publication of a draft Capital Markets Act for consultation.
The draft Act is now available on the Ontario Regulatory Registry. The public, including sector experts and market participants, are invited to share their input on the draft legislation. The Regulatory Registry posting will remain open for comment until January 21, 2022.
Click here for more information.
Canadian investment in building construction falls
Investment in building construction decreased 2.0% to $17.7 billion in August, a fourth consecutive monthly decline. Residential construction was down 2.9% for the month, while investment in non-residential construction edged up 0.6%.
On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction declined 2.6% to $12.7 billion in August.
Residential construction investment decreased 2.9% in August, with declines posted in every province except for a slight increase in Nova Scotia.
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Reading Recommendations
U.S. inflation rate rises to 13-year high of 5.4%
CBC News
The U.S. inflation rate rose to a 13-year high in September as rising costs for food and shelter pushed the rate up to 5.4 per cent.
Higher prices for food and shelter made up half of the increase in the overall rate, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics said in a release. But the biggest individual category increase was energy, the cost of which has risen by almost 25 per cent in the past year.
Economists were expecting the number to come in at around 5.3 per cent, which would have been the highest rate since 2013. But the figure ended up being higher than it’s been since 2008, right before the financial crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic that started in early 2020 caused demand for all sorts of goods and services to plummet. But that demand is now returning so swiftly that supply chains can’t keep up, which is leading to huge price spikes in just about everything.
Data shows Saskatchewan a few intensive care patients away from triage protocol
CTV News
Saskatchewan is a few intensive care patients away from having to activate its triage protocol, which means doctors in the province could soon have to decide who can and cannot get care in intensive care units.
Data from the Saskatchewan Health Authority shows there were 114 people in ICUs across the province yesterday afternoon and 79 of those patients had COVID-19.
The ICU numbers change throughout the day, but the province was just two patients away from having to activate its “red zone,” which is triggered when there are 116 people in intensive care.
Niagara COVID-19 statistics tracker
These data show the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in Niagara. The Province of Ontario is now using a provincewide approach to reopening, and these data no longer have any influence on Niagara’s restrictions. Lower numbers are better in all metrics.
| December 18 | December 25 | January 1 | January 8 | January 15 | January 22 | January 29 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive number | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| New cases per 100,000 | 101.2 | 267.3 | 469.8 | 575.8 | 507.1 | 295.5 | 250.6 |
| New cases per day (not including outbreaks) | 60.7 | 178.7 | 311.7 | 376.9 | 325.4 | 182.7 | 145.7 |
| Percent of hospital beds occupied | 97% | 95.2% | 98.2% | 103.2% | 104.5% | 103.6% | 106% |
| Percent of intensive care beds occupied | 78.8% | 77.3% | 87.9% | 87.9% | 90.9% | 89.4% | 93.9% |
| Percentage of positive tests | 6.1% | 15.6% | 28.1% | 28.6% | 26.6% | 21.2% | 16.2% |
Last updated: October 9, 2021
Click here for definitions of terms used in this table.
On October 13, there were 13 patients admitted to Niagara Health with COVID-19, 11 of whom were unvaccinated and 2 of whom were fully vaccinated. There were 4 patients with COVID-19 in a Niagara Health Intensive Care Unit.
Over the last 28 days, a Niagara resident vaccinated with 1 dose was 3 times more likely to contract COVID-19, and an unvaccinated person was 6.5 times more likely. The average weekly rate of hospitalized cases in unvaccinated Canadians was 36 times higher compared to fully vaccinated people. Niagara Health has reported that no vaccinated patients have required intensive care to date.
Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health and Niagara Health.
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker
Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.
| Percentage of population with one dose | Percentage of population fully vaccinated | |
|---|---|---|
| Niagara | 82.7% | 78.2% |
| Ontario | 84.6% | 79.1% |
| Canada | 84.7% | 78.6% |
| United States | 75% | 64% |
| United Kingdom | 78% | 72% |
| Germany | 76% | 74% |
| France | 80% | 77% |
| Italy | 83% | 76% |
| Japan | 80% | 79% |
| World | 63% | 53% |
Total doses administered in Niagara: 716,155
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 963
Last updated: October 13, 2021
Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.
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.
