In this edition:
- University of Niagara Falls Canada announces readiness to offer world-class, digitally-minded education
- Town of Lincoln seeks community input on affordable housing
- Lucky Thai receives $10,000 from My Main Street to support its main street small business
- Ontario education workers will be in legal strike position in 17 days
- Consumers cope with falling real wage growth by cutting spending
- Business confidence falls due to inflation and slowing consumer demand
- Residential construction gains outweigh non-residential slowdown in August
- Loblaw freezes prices of all No Name brand products until Jan. 31, 2023
University of Niagara Falls Canada announces readiness to offer world-class, digitally-minded education
The University of Niagara Falls Canada is pleased to announce that it will be ready to welcome new students in 2024, following Government of Ontario approval. Operated by Global University Systems Canada (GUS Canada), the new university aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in the 21st-Century workforce and the Niagara Region — and all of Ontario — with major economic and employment benefits.
“This is a massive windfall for the City of Niagara Falls,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati. “If there was one thing on my bucket list that we had still yet to do in a big way in our community, it was this.”
Town of Lincoln seeks community input on affordable housing
To help guide municipal decision-making and policies, the Town of Lincoln is reaching out to members of the public to better understand community housing needs, challenges and perspectives.
Recent housing construction in Lincoln has been almost entirely in the form of ownership housing, and the availability of rental housing has decreased. Having an adequate supply of all forms of housing, including purpose-built rental accommodation, provides the flexibility to address the needs of low-and moderate-income households in the community.
Town of Lincoln residents are welcome to participate in the Town’s survey on affordable housing. The survey deadline is Friday, November 4, 2022. Hard copies are available at Town Hall, the Fleming Centre, and the Lincoln Community Centre.
The Town also invites the public to share their thoughts on what affordable housing means to them and how the Town can provide appropriate and affordable housing for all.
Lucky Thai receives $10,000 from My Main Street to support its main street small business
Lucky Thai is pleased to receive a non-repayable contribution of $10,000 through the My Main Street, Local Business Accelerator program. This contribution will allow Lucky Thai to support findings from the market research provided by My Main Street to drive economic growth and attract new customers to the business and the entire Port Colborne community.
The My Main Street, Local Business Accelerator program is delivered by the Economic Developers Council of Ontario with an overall Government of Canada investment of $23.25 million, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), to support the recovery and strength of main streets and local businesses in southern Ontario.
Click here for tickets and more information.
Ontario education workers will be in legal strike position in 17 days, CUPE says
About 55,000 education workers in Ontario, such as custodians, early childhood educators and administration staff, will be in a legal strike position as of Nov. 3, the Canadian Union of Public Employees said Monday.
CUPE has not indicated if education workers would engage in a full strike — which could potentially close schools — or start with a work-to-rule campaign, or take some other course of action at that point.
There are still talks in progress with the assistance of a mediator, with three days of bargaining scheduled between Monday and Wednesday. During the last round of contract negotiations, in 2019, CUPE and the government reached a last-minute deal the day before workers had been set to go on strike.
Consumers cope with falling real wage growth by cutting spending
The latest Canadian Survey on Consumer Expectations found that workers believe their wage gains are not keeping up with inflation and will not catch up. They reported coping with higher inflation by cutting spending and changing their shopping habits. Remote work policies are compensating, to a certain extent, for falling real wages.
Most consumers are aware that the Bank of Canada has raised interest rates, but many are uncertain about how these increases will affect inflation.
Canadians are optimistic about labour market conditions. However, falling real wage growth and tighter credit conditions are weighing on their confidence, and most expect a recession in the next 12 months.
Business confidence falls due to inflation and slowing consumer demand
Business confidence has softened, according to results from the third-quarter 2022 Business Outlook Survey and the July through October 2022 Business Leaders’ Pulse surveys. Many firms expect slower sales growth as interest rates rise and demand growth shifts closer to pre-pandemic levels. Early signs suggest that pressures on prices and wages have started to ease, but firms’ inflation expectations remain high.
Businesses expect their price increases to moderate due to downward pressure on prices for commodities and other input goods. They also expect their wage increases to soften from high levels. Firms’ short-term inflation expectations remain above the Bank of Canada’s inflation target.
Firms’ sales outlooks have also softened. Businesses with sales linked to housing activity and household consumption expect weaker sales growth due to rising interest rates. Other firms anticipate their sales growth will be healthy but slower than earlier in the economic recovery from the COVID‑19 pandemic.
Residential construction gains outweigh non-residential slowdown in August
Investment in building construction increased 0.4% to $21.1 billion in August, with most of the gains coming from British Columbia. The residential sector rose 0.5% to $15.7 billion, while the non-residential sector declined 0.2% to $5.3 billion.
Investment in non-residential construction edged down 0.2% to $5.3 billion.
Investment in the industrial component rose 0.9% to $1.0 billion in August, a ninth consecutive monthly increase. Overall, seven provinces reported gains, led by Quebec.
Commercial investment edged up 0.1% to $3.0 billion. Alberta led the gains, as it continued to show significant growth over the last 12 months, up 20.2% year over year in August.
Loblaw freezes prices of all No Name brand products until Jan. 31, 2023
Canada’s biggest grocer is freezing prices on all its No Name products until next year as double-digit food inflation sends grocery bills spiralling.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. said Monday it has locked in prices of the popular house brand, which includes more than 1,500 grocery items, until Jan. 31, 2023.
In a letter shared with customers, Loblaw chairman and president Galen G. Weston said the price of an average basket of groceries is up about 10 per cent this year with some items like apples, soup and chips up even more.
Niagara Economic Summit
Dr. Ian Potter to share newest developments in workplace automation at Summit
Dr. Ian Potter, President & CEO of the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre and of Platform Genetics, will join the War for Talent panel at this year’s Niagara Economic Summit. As former Vice President, Engineering and Vice President, Business Management with the National Research Council of Canada, Dr. Potter is a nationally-renowned expert in automation and developments that replace and augment the human factor in the workplace.
With the current labour shortage forecast to last the rest of the decade, businesses aiming to remain competitive will have to find new ways to do more with a smaller workforce. How will technology, automation, and AI change the workplace of tomorrow – and how can you position your business to take advantage? Join us at the Summit for the answers to these questions and more.
Contact us to submit your questions for Dr. Potter in advance.
Click here for tickets to this year’s Niagara Economic Summit.
Focus on Small Business
Ontario celebrates Small Business Week
“This Small Business Week, we celebrate the over 400,000 small businesses in Ontario and their more than two million hard-working employees,” said Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
“Behind every small business is an entrepreneur with a vision, passion and purpose. They represent the best of the Ontario Spirit – generosity, grit and determination.
“We are helping Ontario entrepreneurs seed, start and scale their businesses quickly and efficiently, here at home, online and in the global marketplace. Through Futurpreneur Canada, we are also supporting the next generation of young entrepreneurs with mentorship programs and helping them access loan capital.”
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.
