Reminder: Ontario Worker Income Protection Benefit extended to December 31, 2021
Paid infectious disease emergency leave was originally set to end September 25, 2021. It will now continue until December 31, 2021. Employers are now required to provide eligible employees with up to three days of paid infectious disease emergency leave because of certain reasons related to . Eligible employers must make their application for reimbursement to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board within 120 days of the date the employer paid the employee, or by April 30, 2022, whichever is earlier.
Click here for more information.
Niagara Health re-opening St. Catharines Site COVID-19 assessment centre
Niagara Health is re-opening its COVID-19 drive-through assessment centre at the St. Catharines Site on Tuesday, Sept. 21 due to an increase in demand for testing. The St. Catharines Site assessment centre will be in addition to the Greater Niagara General assessment centre in Niagara Falls. The operating hours for both locations will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week, including all holidays.
Book a COVID-19 test appointment online or call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19). Please note that walk-ins are not accepted for COVID-19 testing at either location.
Click here for more information.
NSERC announces $1.75 million renewal for Niagara College Technology Access Centre
Thanks to continued investment from the federal government, Niagara College’s Canadian Food and Wine Institute (CFWI) Innovation Centre will further advance its state-of-the-art services to food and beverage companies wishing to innovate, grow and compete in the global marketplace.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has awarded a $1.75 million renewal of Technology Access Centre (TAC) funding for the NC Research & Innovation division’s CFWI Innovation Centre for another five years, at $350,000 per year. The renewal grant is through NSERC’s College and Community Innovation (CCI) program.
The Election Section
Niagara federal vote projections
Seats (Projection)
| Niagara Centre | Niagara Falls | Niagara West | St. Catharines | Canada (338canada) | Canada (CBC) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloc Quebecois | 7% (32 seats) | 6.8% (31 seats) | ||||
| Conservative Party | 30% | 38% | 46% | 32% | 31.4% (126 seats) | 31% (119 seats) |
| Green Party | 3% | 3.7% | 3.9% | 3.5% | 3.4% (2 seats) | 3.5% (1 seat) |
| Liberal Party | 35% | 31% | 29% | 36% | 31.9% (148 seats) | 31.5% (155 seats) |
| New Democratic Party | 24% | 21% | 14% | 23% | 19.3% (31 seats) | 19.1% (32 seats) |
| People's Party | 7.6% | 6% | 6.5% | 5.8% | 6% (0 seats) | 7% (0 seats) |
| Christian Heritage | - | - | 1.1% | - | - | - |
Data are provided by 338canada.com and the CBC using an aggregate of polls. Projections are updated daily. Click here for more information and margins of error.
Download the Canadian Chamber’s policy tracker, which summarizes party commitments made to date.
Niagara’s Prosperity Matters: Build a modern economy
The post-COVID economy will need to be more flexible and responsive, with better data and support for resilient and non-traditional business models.
The GNCC is calling on all parties to create flexible, accessible, navigable upskilling and reskilling options. Developing a culture of lifelong learning can create talent pipelines through targeted matchmaking programs. This approach will help build resilient employees and businesses alike, reduce risks for all groups and create a more diverse workforce.
Canada’s future economy must be socially responsible and environmentally sustainable. We must build on our promises to deliver equity, to build prosperity for all Canadians, and to safeguard our environment so that future generations may enjoy that same prosperity.
The GNCC asks all parties to step up investments in cybersecurity. Enabling businesses to write off cybersecurity-related investments will encourage investment and improve security. This measure should include software, education, training, certification and equipment in the same year those investments are made.
Click here to read more about the GNCC’s Niagara Prosperity Plan.
Frustrated with the process, some electors give up hope of voting by mail
CBC News
Slightly more than 1.2 million Canadians have requested a mail-in voting kit, according to Elections Canada. While that is less than the agency anticipated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s still far more than in elections past.
The deadline to request a special mail-in ballot has passed, but some of those who had requested one by the Tuesday cut-off told CBC News they haven’t received their ballot. Others hoping to vote by mail say Elections Canada is having difficulty processing the proof of identification they’ve sent in.
But Elections Canada spokesperson Matthew McKenna said that, to his knowledge, these are not widespread issues.
Reading Recommendations
Forget Asia — businesses that dare to venture into Africa are poised to reap the rewards
Financial Post
International trade has received little attention on the campaign trail, but the policy books suggest that the next government could take an interest in Africa, a part of the world that Ottawa has mostly ignored for the better part of two decades.
The Liberal platform states the party would develop a strategy of “economic co-operation” to support the recently ratified African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), increase infrastructure investment and expand partnerships in research and innovation.
Conservatives say they would partly reorient Canadian supply chains to Africa and “fully engage” with the 54 members of AfCFTA, “particularly in infrastructure, energy transition, technology, minerals, and food security partnerships.” They also plan to pursue an intelligence-sharing partnership with the African Union and establish “strategic outlooks” with a select few countries.
Sorry, a coronavirus infection might not be enough to protect you
The Atlantic
Immune cells can learn the vagaries of a particular infectious disease in two main ways. The first is bona fide infection, and it’s a lot like being schooled in a war zone, where any lesson in protection might come at a terrible cost. Vaccines, by contrast, safely introduce immune cells to only the harmless mimic of a microbe, the immunological equivalent of training guards to recognize invaders before they ever show their face. The first option might be more instructive and immersive—it is, after all, the real thing. But the second has a major advantage: It provides crucial intel in the absence of risk.
Some pathogens aren’t memorable to the body, no matter the form in which they’re introduced. But with SARS-CoV-2, we’ve been lucky: Both inoculation and infection can marshal stellar protection. Past tussles with the virus, in fact, seem so immunologically instructive that in many places, including several nations in the European Union, Israel, and the United Kingdom, they can grant access to restaurants, bars, and travel hubs galore, just as full vaccination does.
In the United States, conversely, only fully vaccinated Americanscan wield the social currency that immunity affords.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
Featured Content
Youth Employment in Niagara
Niagara Workforce Planning Board
COVID-19 significantly impacted young people’s ability to find and maintain employment. NWPB has started a series of blogs dedicated to sharing trends on local youth employment, highlighting the experiences of local youth, and focusing on youth-reported goals related to education, careers and training – particularly ways in which they believe these goals can be supported.
The first post in the series is available on NWPB’s website here. In addition, we have a youth-employment dashboard that is updated on a monthly basis available here.
Some trends from the latest update include:
- 30,800 youth reported employment in August 2021. This is an increase compared to August 2020 (22,800 employed) but is still lower than August 2019 (36,000 employed).
- The youth employment rate increased from 54.2% in July to 65.3% in August 2021
- The youth participation rate increased from 65.7% in July to 75.6% in August 2021
- The youth unemployment rate decreased from 17.5% in July to 13.7% in August 2021
All of NWPB’s recent reports, including our monthly eye on employment, can be found on our website, www.nwpb.ca.
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: September 11, 2021
Click here for definitions of terms used in this table.
On September 16, there were 9 patients admitted to Niagara Health with COVID-19, of which 8 were unvaccinated, 0 were partially vaccinated, and 1 was fully vaccinated. There were 5 patients with COVID-19 in a Niagara Health Intensive Care Unit.
Over the last 28 days, a Niagara resident vaccinated with 1 dose was 4.2 times more likely to contract COVID-19, and an unvaccinated person was 7.5 times more likely.
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: 684,980
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 1,381
Last updated: September 17, 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.
