In this edition:
- Niagara municipalities to hold purchasing & procurement open house
- Canada and Ontario invest $4.77 million in agri-food research
- Car sales up over 10% year-over-year as car registrations reach highest level since pandemic
- Canadian rents decline for 11th straight month
- GM president calls for consumer-focused policy around EV mandate
- Ontario C-store licenses jump 18% in 11 months
- Flight attendants overwhelmingly vote against Air Canada wage offer
- Focus on Finance and Economy
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Picture credit: TarikVision / Adobe Stock
Niagara municipalities to hold purchasing & procurement open house
The municipalities of Niagara Region, City of Welland, Port Colborne, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Fort Erie, and Lincoln are hosting an open house for purchasing and procurement. Interested businesses can meet procurement representatives, find out how the process works, and get their questions answered.
Picture credit: Andrii Yalanskyi / Adobe Stock
Canada and Ontario invest $4.77 million in agri-food research
The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $4.77 million in 48 research and innovation projects and supporting 20 companies through the Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative (OAFRI).
Photo credit: Kadmy / Adobe Stock
Car sales up over 10% year-over-year as car registrations reach highest level since pandemic
In June, the largest gain in retail commodities came from motor vehicle sales, which posted a year-over-year increase of 10.4%. Growth in this commodity class was mainly driven by higher sales of used motor vehicles (+17.3%), as sales of used minivans, sport utility vehicles and light trucks (+14.6%) led the gains.
Photo credit: vadim yerofeyev / Adobe Stock
Canadian rents decline for 11th straight month
Canadian rents in August declined for the 11th straight month, new data from Rentals.ca shows. Rents in St. Catharines and Welland fell year-over-year, while in Niagara Falls, they had increased 1.1% for a one-bedroom apartment and 2.5% for a two-bedroom.
Chevrolet’s 2024 Blazer EV. | Picture credit: GM Canada
GM president calls for consumer-focused policy around EV mandate
Canada’s policies around electric vehicles need to be more reflective of consumer demand, rather than a “forced outcome” from federal mandates, the president of GM Canada said.
Kristian Aquilina was in Vancouver for a conference on electric vehicles on Sep. 6, the day after the federal government announced it was delaying its electric vehicle sales mandate and launching a review.
Photo credit: bodnarphoto / Adobe Stock
Ontario C-store licenses jump 18% in 11 months
Since the category launched a year ago, Ontario c-stores have rapidly adopted beverage alcohol, with hundreds of thousands of orders shipped and thousands of locations now stocking it, according to new figures shared by the LCBO.
Photo Credit: robin / Adobe Stock
Flight attendants overwhelmingly vote against Air Canada wage offer
Air Canada flight attendants on Saturday overwhelmingly voted against the airline’s latest wage offer, their union said — a vote that’s expected to have no impact on flight operations.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said in a statement that 99.1 per cent of members rejected the proposal, arguing flight attendants would still earn less than federal minimum wage.
Focus on Finance and Economy
Is a Bank of Canada rate cut in the bag given the cratering job market?
Gigi Suhanic, Financial Post
The Canadian economy shed a shocking 66,000 jobs in August, steamrolling estimates for a gain of 5,000, which has ramped up bets that the Bank of Canada will restart interest rate cuts.
Market bets that policymakers will cut interest rates from their current 2.75 per cent at their Sept. 17 meeting jumped on Friday to a bit more than 70 per cent from 55 per cent the day before as the unemployment rate rose to 7.1 per cent from 6.9 per cent in July, according to the latest Labour Force Survey.
The economy also lost 41,000 positions in July and has now shed a net 38,500 positions for the first eight months of the year and it’s not all due to United States tariffs being imposed.
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.
