In this edition:
- Election Day in Niagara
- Bank of Canada expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday as recession fears grow
- Competition Bureau to study competition in Canada’s grocery sector
- Amazon opens largest and most technologically advanced facility in Ottawa
- NATO clears BlackBerry SecuSUITE for global NATO secure communications
Election Day in Niagara
For those who didn’t take advantage of the advanced polling opportunities, today is election day across Niagara — along with the rest of Ontario’s 444 municipalities.
In many ways, municipal politics have the most direct impact on people’s lives. Town, city and regional councils play a huge role in land use planning, recreational services like arenas and parks, road infrastructure and water services.
There are 12 municipalities in Niagara, each with its own local council. Additionally, there’s the Niagara regional council, which includes the mayors of each town and city and additional councillors. Each town and city elects a certain number of regional councillors roughly based on its population (for instance, St. Catharines elects six regional councillors, West Lincoln only one. Wainfleet, meanwhile, only has the mayor as a representative at regional headquarters).
For information on where and how to vote, visit Niagara Region’s election portal.
Bank of Canada expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday as recession fears grow
Even as warnings about a potential recession grow louder, the Bank of Canada is expected to announce another hefty interest rate hike on Wednesday, edging the bank closer to the end of one of the fastest monetary policy tightening cycles in its history.
RBC senior economist Nathan Janzen says it’s a coin toss between the Bank of Canada choosing to raise its key interest rate by half a percentage point or three-quarters of a percentage point, though RBC is leaning toward the smaller increase.
Competition Bureau to study competition in Canada’s grocery sector
The Competition Bureau is launching a study of grocery store competition in Canada. The study will examine various issues with the goal of recommending measures that governments can take to help improve competition in the sector.
A backgrounder and the complete market study notice are available on the Bureau website.
With inflation on the rise, Canadian consumers have seen their purchasing power decline. This is especially true when buying groceries. In fact, grocery prices in Canada are increasing at the fastest rate seen in 40 years.
Many factors are thought to have impacted the price of food including extreme weather, higher input costs, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and supply chain disruptions. Are competition factors also at work? To find out, the Bureau will study this issue from now until June 2023.
Amazon opens largest and most technologically advanced facility in Ottawa
Amazon Canada’s latest and most technologically advanced facility has opened in the west end of Ottawa.
Amazon Canada celebrated the opening of its newest and most advanced robotics facility, YOW3, in Barrhaven on Oct. 21.
The only facility of its kind in Canada, and one of only five around the world, Jawad Kamani, general manager of Amazon YOW3, told The Sam Laprade Show on Oct. 21 that currently 1,500 people have been hired to work at the new facility, and the plan is to have a total of 2,500 associates employed.
NATO clears BlackBerry SecuSUITE for global NATO secure communications
BlackBerry Limited announced today that the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) has awarded security accreditation to BlackBerry’s SecuSUITE® for Government for global use in official NATO secure communications.
The NCI Agency supports communications and work between NATO’s member nations. The classified nature of information handled by the NATO network means that it is critical that all communications remain secure, combatting efforts to electronically eavesdrop on conversations. The NCI Agency has awarded SecuSUITE security accreditation for high level secure communications, which allows the global NATO network to extend SecuSUITE as a solution of choice for conducting secure voice and messaging communications.
Niagara Economic Summit
Vita Gauley brings clarity to ever-changing worlds of employment law and contract negotiation
A record number of unfilled jobs, a seller’s labour market, and new workplace legislation are making things chaotic in the world of the workforce. More than ever, employers are asking how they can compete for scarce talent, what they can offer an increasingly footloose workforce, and what their rights and obligations towards their employees are.
As a partner at Lancaster Chown & Welch LLP and a specialist in Employment and Labour Law, Vita Gauley understands these issues better than anyone. At LCW, Vita provides advice and representation in employment matters to corporations and executives, including dismissal, hiring, contracts, human rights and employment litigation.
At the Summit, Vita will bring her skills and knowledge to bear on the legal aspects of the war for talent, outlining how the legislative landscape is changing, how employers can stay on top, and how they can get ahead in their negotiations.
Contact us to submit your questions for Vita.
Click here for tickets to this year’s Niagara Economic Summit.
Focus on Small Business
Employers look for new ways to recruit as aging workers contribute to ongoing labour shortage
More than 300,000 Canadians have already retired so far in 2022, according to Statistics Canada — up from 233,000 last year. What’s more, the number of people nearing retirement age is higher than ever before, with more than one in five Canadians of working age between 55 and 64 years old. With the average age of retirement sitting at 64, that means many more Canadians are set to leave their jobs.
Even employers who haven’t seen big numbers of retirements happen yet are beginning to plan ahead.
These Canadian small businesses blew up — thanks, in part, to TikTok
There’s a reason the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has nearly 26 billion views. If there’s one thing the popular entertainment app has taught us, it’s the power of social media marketing. Advertising on billboards and in commercials can cost thousands of dollars, and for many small businesses, that’s not a realistic option. The app has evolved over the past couple years (remember when doing anything other than dancing on TikTok seemed odd?), and it’s become clear that if a smaller brand wants to build awareness, reputation and recognition, they have to place their trust in a social-savvy audience.
The ability to go viral on the popular entertainment app has given small businesses the opportunity to be discovered by their ideal target audience, not only largely increasing their number of sales, but helping them build an authentic community.
Keep reading for eight small-medium businesses that blew up because of the app.
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.
