Ontario reinstating renewal requirements for driver’s licences, licence plate stickers and health cards
The Ontario government is reinstating renewal requirements for driver’s licences, licence plate stickers, Ontario Photo Cards, Ontario health cards, and other products that would have expired on or after March 1, 2020, but were extended to provide immediate relief to Ontarians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those needing to renew their provincial documents are encouraged to use ServiceOntario’s convenient and easy-to-use online option.
Click here for more information.
Port Colborne rainbow crosswalk showcases commitment to inclusivity and diversity
As of today, a splash of colour can be seen in downtown Port Colborne with the installation of a rainbow crosswalk.
To celebrate and support inclusivity of the LGBTQ2+ community, the City of Port Colborne in partnership with the Downtown BIA, installed a rainbow crosswalk at the corner of West Street and Clarence Street. In June 2021, the Downtown BIA brought a report to Council, suggesting the need to be the next “Safe Space” landmarked in Niagara by a rainbow crosswalk.
Click here for more information.
Niagara Suicide Prevention Coalition to host webinar for World Suicide Prevention Day
The Niagara Suicide Prevention Coalition will continue the conversation about suicide prevention in Niagara on Sept. 15 from noon to 1 p.m. for an online webinar panel discussion featuring local speakers from crisis services. Register for the Niagara Suicide Prevention Coalition webinar.
- For immediate risk, call 9-1-1
- For adults in crisis, contact COAST (Crisis Outreach and Support Team) at 1-866-550-5205
- For children and youth in crisis, contact Pathstone Mental Health 24hr Crisis Line at 1-800-263-4944
Click here for more information.
Welland City Hall and other facilities will reopen to the public on September 7
Welland City Hall and other city facilities are reopening to the public beginning Tuesday, September 7. During facility closures, staff installed building modifications to meet the standards and guidelines provided by public health. As a result, installing floor markers, service counter barriers, and establishing entry and exit points facilitating safe traffic flow is in place when doors open Sept. 7.
Click here for more information (PDF link).
Niagara Health vaccination clinic to be closed Monday, Sept. 6
Niagara Health’s vaccination clinic at the St. Catharines Site will be closed on Labour Day (Monday, Sept. 6) due to low bookings.
Regular operations, including booked and walk-in appointments, will resume Tuesday, Sept. 7.
Click here for more information.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
Residential building permits down over 10% in Ontario
The total value of building permits in Canada decreased 3.9% to $9.9 billion in July. Seven provinces reported declines in the residential sector, led by Ontario (-10.5%). Single-family permits fell 9.6% in July, with two provinces showing growth. Ontario (-9.1%) contributed the most to the decrease. Non-residential permit values declined 5.6% to $2.9 billion in July, despite Ontario’s strong growth of 17.3%.
The Election Section
Niagara federal vote projections
Votes (Percentage)
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Seats (Projection)
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| 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 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: Growing a prosperous economy
Canadians are hardworking and innovative, so it is no surprise SMEs are Canada’s biggest employers. The next Parliament must ensure an environment that helps Canada’s entrepreneurs grow and create jobs.
The GNCC is calling on all parties to modernize the social safety net to support entrepreneurs. The pandemic illustrated how little coverage relief programs offered to solopreneurs and small- and micro-business owners. Niagara’s small and seasonal businesses were particularly affected. A comprehensive support system that supports entrepreneurs would encourage the founding of new businesses and economic growth.
Click here to read more about the GNCC’s Niagara Prosperity Plan.
Fate of national daycare in the hands of Canadian voters
Reuters
Canadians will face a stark choice on how to tackle a childcare crisis when they go to the polls on Sept. 20, with the ruling Liberals vowing to push ahead with a subsidized daycare system and the rival Conservatives offering tax credits to parents.
The dire need for affordable, reliable childcare in Canada was laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic, as daycare and school closures forced many parents, mostly women, to cut back work hours or leave jobs to care for children, hurting productivity.
More than 48% of Canadian parents have struggled to find affordable childcare, a recent Statistics Canada study found, prompting 27% of them to delay a return to work and 41% to change work schedules.
Public support for a national childcare program is high, with more than 70% of Canadians in favor, according to an Angus Reid poll. Support is strongest among women and left-leaning Canadians, key voting blocs for the center-left Liberals who are in a neck-and-neck here race with the Conservatives.
Highest percentage of female and gender-diverse candidates running in this election than ever before
CTV News
The highest percentage of female candidates than ever before are running in the federal election this year with all five major parties either maintaining or increasing the percentage of women and gender-diverse candidates that ran for them in the 2019 federal election.
The parties were required to submit their final list of candidate nominations to Elections Canada by the Aug. 30 deadline – 21 days before election day.
According to Equal Voice, a not-for-profit organization that tracks gender diversity in Canadian politics, women and gender-diverse candidates account for 43 per cent of all nominees across the five major parties – a slight increase from the 42 per cent total in the 2019 federal election.
Reading Recommendations
Chip shortage forces GM to extend factory closures
CBC News
General Motors Co. will reduce production at most North American assembly plants this month because of the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage, hitting its profitable truck and sport utility vehicles, it said on Thursday.
The largest U.S. automaker will halt production next week at its Fort Wayne plant in Indiana and its Silao plant in Mexico, both of which build pickup trucks. In total, GM is cutting production at eight North American assembly plants in September.
The pandemic’s true death toll
The Economist
How many people have died because of the covid-19 pandemic? The answer depends both on the data available, and on how you define “because”. Many people who die while infected with SARS-CoV-2 are never tested for it, and do not enter the official totals. Conversely, some people whose deaths have been attributed to covid-19 had other ailments that might have ended their lives on a similar timeframe anyway. And what about people who died of preventable causes during the pandemic, because hospitals full of covid-19 patients could not treat them? If such cases count, they must be offset by deaths that did not occur but would have in normal times, such as those caused by flu or air pollution.
Featured Content
What should leaders be thinking about moving forward?
Pollice Consulting Group
Businesses will continue to struggle in order to grasp and understand which of the Covid 19 pandemic’s effects will be temporary and which will become permanent. Four new reports attempt to analyze these longer term trends.
One is from Glassdoor in California; a website and information hub that allows employees to rank their employers. Another is a global management consulting agency in Massachusetts called the Boston Group which endeavours to provide strategic planning initiatives; McKinsey Global in Toronto which provides readers with a terrific insight to management challenges and the Chartered Management Institute in the United Kingdom which regulates Managers was also included. When read together, their message is clear – firms stand to benefit from the pandemic however, managerial life is going to dramatically change by getting a little more difficult.
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: August 28, 2021
Click here for definitions of terms used in this table.
There are currently 7 patients admitted to Niagara Health with COVID-19. There are currently 0 patients with COVID-19 in a Niagara Health Intensive Care Unit.
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: 663,958
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 1,312
Last updated: September 2, 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.
