Daily Update: June 8th, 2021

June 8, 2021 | Daily Update

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.

Ontario will move to Step One of the Roadmap to Reopen on June 11, 2021

Visit gncc.ca/roadmap-to-reopen-step-one-what-you-need-to-know for a guide on what to expect and what your obligations are.

Niagara Medical Officer of Health delivers COVID-19 briefing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCHiiWVDJXc

Arterra Wines acquires Vin First

Arterra Wines Canada, Inc. (AWC) announced yesterday (PDF link) that they have acquired St. Catharines-based canning and Tetra™ packaging company VinFirst Inc. Arterra Wines Canada, Inc. is the country’s leading producer and marketer of award-winning, globally recognized Canadian and imported wines, and includes the brands Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin, Sawmill Creek, Wallaroo Trail, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, Ruffino and Kim Crawford. The acquisition will allow Arterra to continue to diversify its packaging and to offer more convenient and portable formats.

Semiconductor shortage in auto industry causes Canadian import/export decline

In April, Canada’s merchandise imports fell 4.7%, while exports decreased 1.0%. Both declines were attributable in large part to significant decreases in trade of motor vehicles and parts. This was mainly the result of production shutdowns in the auto assembly industry in April because of the shortage of semiconductor chips.

Imports of motor vehicles and parts decreased 22.1% in April to $6.6 billion. Excluding the lows of the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, this represents the lowest level since February 2012. Imports of passenger cars and light trucks (-29.7%) and engines and parts (-20.2%) both decreased significantly as many auto and parts manufacturers in North America and abroad stopped or slowed production because of the semiconductor chip shortage.

Semiconductor chips are generally not imported into Canada in large quantities as discrete products. Impacts of the global chip shortage will be more apparent in a variety of other manufactured product categories

Canada’s merchandise trade balance went from a deficit of $1.3 billion in March to a surplus of $594 million in April. The surplus in April was the third in 2021, but its value represented less than 0.6% of total monthly merchandise trade.

Reading Recommendations

Canada eyeing multi-stage approach to reopening the border to travellers

CBC News

Canadian officials are looking at a multi-phase approach to reopening the border that would begin with allowing fully vaccinated travellers to enter starting this summer.

The pace of Canada-U.S. discussions about reopening has intensified lately, as more people in both countries are vaccinated and as frustration grows on the American side over the continued border closure.

The broad themes of those conversations were described to CBC News by several border town mayors who have been consulted on the talks, and by one federal official.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed two key elements of the likely reopening plan in public remarks Monday: that the reopening will happen in stages and that the first travellers entering Canada will have to be fully vaccinated.

The GNCC, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and Buffalo-Niagara Partnership have jointly requested a border reopening plan and a set of metrics from both governments.

Pricey homes, cheap airfare: Canada rejigs inflation measures for post-pandemic life

Reuters

A year into the pandemic, Canada’s national statistics agency is updating how it measures inflation, using new types of data for the first time as it bets on what lockdown spending shifts will prevail even as life returns more to normal.

Statistics Canada’s overdue re-weighting of its consumer price index (CPI) basket, set for release with June data, could give another bump to inflation which is already running hot. It also has implications for real return bonds, which compensate investors for changes in CPI.

3 Explanations for the Vaccine Slowdown

The Atlantic

For a few weeks this spring, the United States was a world leader in vaccines, administering shots to a larger share of its population than even the United Kingdom or Israel. But since the middle of April, our vaccine campaign has stalled. The average number of people getting a first or single dose is down almost 50 percent from its peak on April 13.

What’s notable about that date? Well, it just happens to be the same day that the CDC and the FDA recommended a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

This is a coincidence too big to ignore, and so a lot of people haven’t ignored it. Several analysts and health-care experts have slammed the U.S. government for bringing America’s incredible vaccine acceleration to a sudden halt. (The Johnson & Johnson pause was lifted after 10 days). But a closer look at vaccine progress and polling suggests that this might not be the whole story.

Niagara COVID Stats Tracker (May 29)

	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%

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.

Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health.

Guide

Reproductive number: the average number of new cases each case causes. If each person infects one other person, the rate is 1; if each person infects two people, the rate is 2. Under the outdated COVID-19 response framework, the target for “green-prevent” was less than 1.

New cases per 100,000: the total number of new cases per week identified per 100,000 population. Under the outdated COVID-19 response framework, the target for “green-prevent” was less than 10.

New cases per day: the total number of new cases identified per day over seven days using a rolling average. This number does not include identified outbreaks.

Percent of hospital beds occupied: the total percentage of the Niagara Health System’s hospital beds currently in use. The average occupancy rate of both acute care beds and total hospital beds in Ontario was 96 per cent in 2018-19. It should be noted that this rate was the highest (worst) in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Percent of intensive care beds occupied: the total percentage of the Niagara Health System’s intensive care hospital beds currently in use. The average occupancy rate of both acute care beds and total hospital beds in Ontario was 96 per cent in 2018-19. It should be noted that this rate was the highest (worst) in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Percentage of positive tests: the percentage of COVID-19 tests that were positive. Under the outdated COVID-19 response framework, the target for “green-prevent” was less than 0.5%.

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 8)

Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.

Total doses administered in Niagara: 324,346

Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 5,240

Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen will begin when Ontario has vaccinated 70% of adults with one dose, 20% of adults with two doses, has positive public health indicators, and has been in Step One for at least 21 days.

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.

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.

Share this:

Daily Update: June 7th, 2021

June 7, 2021 | Daily Update

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.

Ontario to begin reopening on June 11

The Ontario government has announced that it will move the province into Step One of its Roadmap to Reopen at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, June 11, 2021.

In order to safely enter Step One of the Roadmap to Reopen, Ontario needed to have vaccinated 60 per cent of adults with at least one dose for two weeks or longer, ensuring the first dose offers a strong level of protection against COVID-19. As of June 6, 2021 at 8:00 p.m., 72 per cent of the 18+ population in Ontario had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine with over 10 million doses now having been administered.

Click here for a business guide to Step One of the Roadmap to Reopen.

Deputy Prime Minister clarifies new Canada Recovery Hiring Program and extension of business support measures

Once the Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-30, receives Royal Assent, it will be retroactive to June 6. In effect, it will apply as of this Sunday and will cover up to 50 per cent of the increase in payroll paid by eligible employers, through November 20 of this year.

The Canada Recovery Hiring Program has been carefully targeted to help employers whose revenue continues to suffer because of the pandemic. It can offset up to half the new labour costs incurred by eligible employers. A for-profit company would only be eligible for the Hiring Program if it is a Canadian-controlled private company. Other eligible employers are individuals, non-profit organizations, and registered charities. The government estimates that this program will cost $595 million dollars in 2021-22.

The types of remuneration eligible for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would also be eligible for the Hiring Program. These generally include salaries, wages and other remuneration on which employers are required to withhold income tax. However, it does not include severance pay or employee stock option benefits. In addition, the remuneration for these employees must be paid during the qualifying period.

Niagara Regional Councillor Diana Huson elected to FCM board of directors

At their annual general meeting on June 4, 2021, Pelham Regional Councillor Diana Huson was elected to the Board of Directors, Ontario Caucus for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). FCM has been the national voice of municipal government since 1901 and plays an important role in advocating to ensure the needs of municipalities are reflected in federal policies and programs.

Councillor Huson was selected by FCM members from around Ontario and will serve a one-year term. The FCM Board of Directors sets policy priorities that reflect the concerns of municipal governments around the country. The board meets quarterly to develop policy positions on key national municipal issues.

Of the 444 municipalities in Ontario, there are only 14 seats for the Ontario Caucus. Prior to Councillor Huson’s appointment, Niagara Region had not been fully represented on the board by a voting member.

Reading Recommendations

Canada’s Freeland says G7 deal shows it’s possible to end ‘race to the bottom’ on taxes

Reuters

A landmark deal by the Group of Seven advanced economies to pursue higher global taxation on large companies shows it is possible to end the “race to the bottom” and will benefit Canada, Canada’s finance minister said on Saturday.

Chrystia Freeland spoke with reporters after a meeting in London, where G7 countries agreed to back a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15%. read more

“We’ve shown today that it is possible to end the global race to the bottom on taxation,” Freeland told reporters. “Multinational companies need to pay their fair share of taxes. Jurisdiction shopping allowed them to avoid doing that.”

Freeland said the issue was of particular importance to Canada as a “relatively high-tax country.”

Employers put to the test on work-from-home post-COVID

BNN Bloomberg

Once the initial shock of working from home at the onset of pandemic wore off, it became a game-changer for many Canadians who quickly realized a morning commute from the bedroom to a home office is much more enjoyable and cost effective than traffic jams and crowded transit rides.

Spending more time at home also allowed many people to narrow in on what was truly important to them in a home: more space.

Remote work capabilities have opened up new living possibilities for many Canadians; and suddenly, small towns across the country have found themselves engulfed in a housing boom usually reserved for major cities.

Now, with vaccination rates accelerating across the country and economic reopenings on the horizon or already underway in some provinces, those who moved out of urban cores might have to start commuting back into city for all or some of the work week.

Niagara COVID Stats Tracker (May 29)

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health.

Guide

New cases per day: the total number of new cases identified per day over seven days using a rolling average. This number does not include identified outbreaks.

Percentage of positive tests: the percentage of COVID-19 tests that were positive. Under the outdated COVID-19 response framework, the target for “green-prevent” was less than 0.5%.

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 7)

Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.

Total doses administered in Niagara: 318,927

Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 2,114

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.

Share this:

Roadmap to Reopen, Step One: What You Need to Know

June 7, 2021 | Daily Update

On 12:01 a.m. on Friday, June 11, 2021, Ontario will move into Step One of its Roadmap to Reopen.

Step Two will be begun when 70% of adults in Ontario have been vaccinated, and 20% have received two doses. You can see the progress of Ontario’s vaccinations in the GNCC’s daily update. Step Two cannot be entered until the province has been in Step One for a minimum of 21 days.

Here is what Step One means for your business.

Retailers

Non-essential retail is permitted to open for in-person shopping at 15 per cent capacity, with no restrictions on the goods that can be sold. Calculate your capacity here with the Retail Council of Canada’s online tool, using the “Phase 1” dropdown
Essential and other select retail is permitted to open for in-person shopping at 25 per cent capacity, with no restrictions on the goods that can be sold. Calculate your capacity here with the Retail Council of Canada’s online tool, using the “Phase 1” dropdown. “Essential retail” includes:
- Businesses that primarily sell food, beverages and consumer products necessary to maintain households and businesses including:
  - Supermarkets and grocery stores
  - Convenience stores
  - Discount and big box retailers selling groceries
  - Beer and wine and liquor stores
- Pharmacies
- Gas stations and other fuel suppliers
- Vehicle retail, including auto
- Hardware
- Safety Supply Stores
- Garden Centres
If your retail store is open, you must:
- Provide sufficient alcohol-based hand rub (minimum alcohol concentration of 70 per cent) at every entrance and exit of the establishment, with prompting to use it upon entry and exit
- Ensure the workplace is arranged to help employees keep two metres distance from each other and from patrons at all times
- Conduct daily interactive screening of all employees for symptoms of COVID-19, using the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Screening Tool for Workplaces, or another tool with the same minimum set of questions, such as the COVID-19 Screening Tool developed by Niagara Region Public Health. Answers to daily screens must be collected and retained for at least one month. Consider supplementing daily screening with free rapid antigen test kits
- Actively monitor compliance and ensure that all patrons, store staff and mall staff, whether inside the mall or retail store under your control, or in the vicinity of a line-up outside the mall or retail store under your control, wear a mask or face covering in a manner that covers their mouth, nose and chin unless entitled to an exception from this requirement in the Reopening Ontario Act
- Actively manage all line-ups or groups of patrons congregating and ensure all patrons waiting in line-ups inside or outside the shopping mall or retail store under your control maintain physical distancing of at least two metres
- Actively monitor compliance with the required capacity limits set in the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020, S.O. 2020, c.17 and applicable regulations for the shopping mall, business, place, facility, or premise under your control, and ensure that physical distancing of two metres is maintained by patrons, store staff and mall staff in all common areas, stores, washrooms, hallways, entrances, etc., at all times
Retail stores in malls are closed unless the store has a street facing entrance.

Bars, restaurants, and other food & drink establishments

Outdoor dining is permitted with up to four people per table, with exceptions for larger households.
If your establishment is open for dining, you must:
- Record the following information from every patron who is 16 years of age or older that enters an indoor or outdoor dining area in the establishment, other than patrons who briefly enter the area to place, pick up, or pay for a takeout order:
  - Name
  - One form of contact information (phone number, email address, physical address)
  - Time of arrival and departure
  - Table number or location
  - Attestation that the patron doesn’t suffer from any COVID-19 symptoms, excluding those from a chronic non-contagious existing diagnosis)
  - Attestation that the patron is joining a table with only household members and/or a maximum of two persons who are essential to maintaining physical and mental health e.g. caregivers or social supports to someone who lives alone
- Retain the above records for a period of at least one month, ensure the records are maintained and stored in a secure manner to preserve privacy of patrons, and appropriately and securely destroy the records after the one month retention period has elapsed
- Disclose the records to a medical officer of health or an inspector under the Health Protection and Promotion Act on request, or as otherwise required by law
- Refuse service patrons for indoor or outdoor dining on the premises if they don’t provide information for the above records. This is a legal requirement mandated by a Section 22 order in Niagara
- Conduct daily interactive screening of all employees for symptoms of COVID-19, using the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Screening Tool for Workplaces, or another tool with the same minimum set of questions, such as the COVID-19 Screening Tool developed by Niagara Region Public Health. Answers to daily screens should be collected and retained for at least one month. Consider supplementing daily screening with free rapid antigen test kits
- Ensure the workplace is arranged to help employees keep two metres distance from each other and from patrons at all times
- Ensure that patrons are seated at all times, except while:
  - Entering the area and moving to their table
  - Placing or picking up an order
  - Paying for an order
  - Exiting the area
  - Going to or returning from a washroom
  - Lining up to do anything stated above
  - Necessary for the purposes of health and safety
- Ensure that patrons seated at different tables are separated by a distance of at least two metres, or by plexiglass or some other impermeable barrier

Personal care services

Closed

Veterinary and pet services

Open

Lawn care and landscaping

Open

Marinas and boating clubs

Permitted with clubhouses, and other indoor amenities closed

Sports, recreational facilities, fitness classes and personal training

Outdoor fitness classes, outdoor groups in personal training and outdoor individual/team sport training are permitted with up to 10 people spaced at least 3 metres apart
Indoor facilities are closed except for high-performance athletes, child care, mental health and addiction support services, social services, and physical therapy (subject to conditions)
All outdoor recreational amenities (e.g. golf courses, tennis courts, skateboarding and BMX parks, shooting and archery ranges) are open
Outdoor pools, splash pads, spray pads, whirlpools, wading pools and water slides are open with capacity limited to permit 2 metres physical distancing

Events, attractions, and entertainment

Social gatherings and organized public events with up to 10 people are now permitted outdoors
Outdoor religious services, rites, or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services, are capped at the number of people that can maintain a physical distance of two metres
Indoor religious services, rites, or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services are permitted at up to 15 per cent capacity of the particular room
Concert venues, theatres and cinemas may open outdoors for the purpose of rehearsing or performing a recorded or broadcasted concert, artistic event, theatrical performance or other performance with no more than 10 performers, among other restrictions
Outdoor horse racing tracks and motor speedways are permitted to operate without spectators
Outdoor attractions such as zoos, landmarks, historic sites, botanical gardens may open with capacity and other restrictions
Indoor meeting and event spaces are closed with exceptions for certain purposes including social services, government operations, court services, in-person examinations for select professions (subject to conditions)
Drive in cinemas may open. Indoor cinemas remain closed
Performing arts remain closed
Casinos, bingo halls and gaming establishments remain closed
Tours and tour guide services remain closed

Day camps and campgrounds

Day camps for children are permitted to operate in a manner consistent with the safety guidelines for COVID-19 produced by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
Overnight camping at campgrounds and campsites, including Ontario Parks, and short-term rentals, is now permitted

Construction

All construction is permitted

For questions, call the Stop the Spread Business Information Line at 1-888-444-3659.

Share this:

Daily Update: June 4th 2021

June 4, 2021 | Daily Update

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.

Niagara employment rises by 3,900 in May, national employment drops 0.4%

May 2021 saw 3,900 more people in employment compared to April 2021, Niagara Workforce Planning Board reports (PDF link). These gains were the result of 5,700 more people in full-time employment and 2,000 fewer people in part-time employment.

Niagara’s unemployment rate decreased from 12.5% to 11.3%. At the same time, the employment rate increased from 50.1% to 51.2%. The employment rate rising as unemployment falls is generally an ideal pairing of labour market indicators. This positive trend is now supported by three months of data that show employment gains despite the third COVID-19 lockdown.

May 2021 saw 1,800 more youth employed in Niagara. Similar to the general labour force, youth saw a declining unemployment rate and an increasing employment rate. However, overall youth employment has only improved 3% in May 2021 compared to May 2020.

Month over month, May 2021 saw 2,200 more women in employment and 1,500 more men in employment compared to April 2021.

Labour force characteristics	April 2020	May 2020	2020	March 2021	April 2021	May 2021
Labour force	204,100	198,400	211,200	208,900	213,600	215,200
Employment	182,000	172,300	190,600	181,600	186,900	190,800
Full-time employment	142,200	135,800	147,200	142,500	148,200	153,900
Part-time employment	39,800	36,500	43,400	39,100	38,800	36,800
Unemployment	22,100	26,100	20,600	27,200	26,600	24,400
Unemployment rate	10.8%	13.2%	9.8%	13.0%	12.5%	11.3%
Participation rate	55.1%	53.5%	56.9%	56.1%	57.3%	57.7%
Employment rate	49.1%	46.5%	51.3%	48.7%	50.1%	51.2%

Nationally, employment fell by 68,000 (-0.4%) in May. Almost all of the decline was in part-time work (-54,000; -1.6%). The number of self-employed workers was virtually unchanged in May, but remained 5.0% (-144,000) below its pre-pandemic level.

Among people working part time in May, almost one-quarter (22.7%) wanted a full-time job, up from 18.5% in February 2020 (not seasonally adjusted). The number of Canadians working from home held steady at 5.1 million.

The unemployment rate was little changed at 8.2% in May, as the number of people who searched for a job or who were on temporary layoff held steady. The unemployment rate among visible minority Canadians aged 15 to 69 rose 1.5 percentage points to 11.4% in May (not seasonally adjusted). Long-term unemployment—the number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or more—held relatively steady at 478,000 in May.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce observed that the data “yielded no surprises as the labour market stagnation continues” and cautioned that “the coming rebound in jobs is not a recovery in jobs. The rate of unemployment as a result of COVID is roughly 70% greater than that of the Great Recession where it took more than 10 years for the labour market to fully recover. It’s more than likely a labour market recovery from the pandemic could take years if not decades. We are nowhere near out of the woods.”

Ontario expanding accelerated second dose booking

Due to an increasing supply of vaccines, the province is inviting individuals aged 70 and over as well as individuals who received their first dose of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) on or before April 18, 2021, to book an accelerated second dose appointment ahead of schedule.

Ontario expects to receive approximately 4.7 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in June and approximately 3.54 million doses in July. The province has also received 193,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Reading Recommendations

Your questions answered about Canada’s residential school system

CBC News

The discovery of what is believed to be the remains of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., has stunned Canadians and renewed focus on what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a “dark and shameful chapter of our country’s history.”

It is also another reminder for Indigenous peoples living in Canada of a painful history they’ve known about all along.

The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said last week that preliminary findings from a ground-penetrating radar survey at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School detected the remains, a confirmation of what the community already understood from oral history.

Since the news broke, CBC readers have reached out with questions about Canada’s residential school system and its aftermath. Below are answers to some of your questions.

Canada loses more jobs in May but summer hiring boom looms

Reuters

Canada lost more jobs than expected in May amid continued lockdowns to curb a harsh third wave of COVID-19, data showed on Friday, but economists were quick to predict a rush of hiring in June as those restrictions ease.

Some 68,000 jobs were lost in May, Statistics Canada said, more than the average analyst forecast for a loss of 20,000. The unemployment rate climbed to 8.2%, in line with expectations. Employment is now 3% below pre-pandemic levels, Statscan said.

“I am hopeful that this is the last down-print we have before we release a fury of hiring activity starting in June,” said Derek Holt, vice president of Capital Market Economics at Scotiabank.

Niagara COVID Stats Tracker (May 29)

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health.

Guide

New cases per day: the total number of new cases identified per day over seven days using a rolling average. This number does not include identified outbreaks.

Percentage of positive tests: the percentage of COVID-19 tests that were positive. Under the outdated COVID-19 response framework, the target for “green-prevent” was less than 0.5%.

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 4)

Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.

Total doses administered in Niagara: 305,798

Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 5,662

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.

Share this:

Daily Update: June 3rd 2021

June 3, 2021 | Uncategorised

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.

Ontario Updating AstraZeneca Second Dose Guidance

Effective June 4, 2021 and in alignment with NACI’s recommendation, Ontarians who have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine can choose to either receive a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, or an mRNA (Pfizer or Moderna) vaccine for their second dose.

Ontario government to invest in raising high-school student interest in skilled trades and technology careers

The Ontario government is investing almost $440,000 to help more than 2,000 high school students learn more about available skilled trades and technology careers. The project, led by not-for-profit Junior Achievement (JA), will help local communities recover more quickly from COVID-19 by addressing a shortage of workers in jobs like electrician, plumber, carpenter, computer analyst and software developer.

St. Catharines residents asked to give feedback on Development Charges

The City of St. Catharines Development Charges Background Study is now available for public review and feedback, as the City considers introducing Development Charges (DCs) for residential and non-residential projects. DCs are a revenue tool that are charged to developers for the City to recover the capital costs associated with residential and non-residential growth. While the Niagara Region have upper-tier DCs in place, St. Catharines is currently the only municipality in Niagara that does not have lower-tier DCs.

A video presentation of the Development Charges Background Study along with the complete study and a public feedback survey can now be found at www.EngageSTC.ca/DevelopmentCharges.

Public feedback will be compiled for Council prior to a public meeting to be held on July 12.

Niagara Health shows excellence in Laboratory Medicine with Accreditation in Diagnostics

Niagara Health’s Laboratory Medicine Program (LMP) has received the highest accreditation award by Accreditation Canada Diagnostics for all five lab sites for the second time in a row.

Accreditation is a mark of excellence acknowledged around the world.

A wide variety of laboratory services exist at Niagara Health including hematology, coagulation, clinical chemistry, surgical pathology, cytology, autopsy service and transfusion medicine. This past year, the team also processed over 10,000 COVID-19 tests to support the COVID-19 response in the region.

CRTC seeks input on three-digit number for mental health crisis and suicide prevention services

The CRTC is inviting all interested persons to comment on whether there is a need for a three-digit number, such as the 9-8-8 three digit code in the United States, for a national mental health crisis and suicide prevention service. The CRTC is examining the advantages, challenges and costs associated with the deployment of this three-digit number.

The CRTC is welcoming comments until September 1, 2021. Canadians can participate by:

filling out the online form;
writing to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A ON2; or
sending a fax to (819) 994-0218.

Reading Recommendations

Ottawa ups fine to $5,000 for travellers who refuse to quarantine in a hotel

CBC News

Air passengers entering Canada who refuse to quarantine in a designated hotel will soon be subject to a $5,000 fine.

The federal government has announced that, starting Friday, international air passengers who decline to take their required COVID-19 tests or who refuse to check into a quarantine hotel could be hit with a $5,000 fine for each offence — a $2,000 increase from the current fine.

On Feb. 22, the government said air passengers entering Canada must take a COVID-19 test upon arrival and spend up to three days of their 14-day quarantine at a government-approved hotel to wait for their test results. Passengers must foot the bill for their stay, which can cost up to $2,000.

How the World Ran Out of Everything

The New York Times

The tumultuous events of the past year have challenged the merits of paring inventories, while reinvigorating concerns that some industries have gone too far, leaving them vulnerable to disruption. As the pandemic has hampered factory operations and sown chaos in global shipping, many economies around the world have been bedeviled by shortages of a vast range of goods — from electronics to lumber to clothing.

In a time of extraordinary upheaval in the global economy, Just In Time is running late.

Featured Content

Make the most of your wi-fi

YourTV

The past year has been difficult for each and every entrepreneur and at Cogeco, we are well aware of this. That’s why it is important to continue to improve and invest in our infrastructure. One main solution to face the hurdles ahead is continuing to adapt the tech expertise and develop initiatives to make your life easier when outages or slowness occur. Your time is precious, we get that.

While the situation is still difficult for the entrepreneurs, please find here a few easy and quick tips to make the most out of your internet services.

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 3)

Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.

Total doses administered in Niagara: 300,116

Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 5,080

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.

Share this:

Make the most of your wi-fi!

June 3, 2021 | Network News

While the situation is still difficult for the entrepreneurs, please find here a few easy and quick tips to make the most out of your internet services.

3 problems, some very easy solutions

5 ways to easily secure your Wi-Fi network

Protect your employee network with WPA2 encryption
Choose your Wi-Fi network name and passwords wisely
Make your modem updates
Use a separate guest network
Opt for a managed network solution

Why is my wireless connection so slow?

Your cable connections are too weak
A modem that needs to be reset
Too many devices connected at the same time
You are doing too many things online at once

How to optimize the power of your wireless network

Use a wired connection whenever possible
Review the location of your access points
Eliminate sources of interference
Connect to the 5Ghz band when possible

Share this:

Daily Update: June 2nd 2021

June 2, 2021 | Daily Update

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.

Remote learning to continue across Ontario for the remainder of school year

The Ontario government will continue with remote learning for all elementary and secondary students across the province for the remainder of this school year. The Government referred to recent modelling presented by the Science Advisory Table which revealed that if Ontario reopened schools to in-person learning, the province could see an increase of six to 11 per cent in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases. The government could not be certain how many of these would be the new, more dangerous B.1.617.2 variant first identified in India.

GNCC calls for further business supports as restrictions continue

Ontario has now moved out of the stay-at-home order, yet the vast majority of restrictions on businesses remain in effect. Although the new provincial plan commits to begin reopening when the adult vaccination rate reaches 60%, that reopening is still planned for the middle of this month, despite the 65% milestone having been passed last week.

The Step One restrictions are still onerous, with essential retail able to open only at 25% capacity and non-essential at only 15%, for instance. If the United States and the United Kingdom are indicators of Canada’s future, ahead of us in vaccine deployment, we can likely expect vaccination to slow and stall as we run into the limits posed by those who cannot – or will not – get vaccinated. If this is the case, Ontario could be stuck in Step One or Step Two of the plan for some time, with heavy restrictions continuing to hamper our economy.

The GNCC is calling for the Government of Ontario to introduce a third round of small business support grants, to create an appeals procedure for rejected applications, and for the Government of Canada to delay the tapering of the wage and rent subsidy programs.

Youth and family vaccination clinics to begin June 14 in Niagara

Niagara Region Public Health is pleased to announce a run of vaccination clinics tailored for youth and their families, beginning June 14. The clinics are available now for booking through the provincial booking system, for those 12-17 years old and their families. Click here for a list of locations. Eligible residents can book an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccination either online through the provincial portal at Ontario.ca/bookvaccine or by calling the provincial booking system at 1-833-943-3900.

St. Catharines unveils first Pride Crosswalk as commitment to inclusivity and diversity continues

As Pride Month celebrations get underway, the City of St. Catharines is celebrating the installation of its first Pride Crosswalk, recognizing the community’s diversity and the importance of continued efforts toward inclusion.

The crosswalk was installed last week at the St. Paul Street pedestrian crossover located in front of the FirstOntario PAC, with a design developed in consultation with the City’s LGBTQ2+ and Anti-racism Advisory Committees.

One in three Canadian workers received CERB payments in 2020

Of all Canadian workers who earned at least $5,000 in 2019, 35.2% received CERB payments for the period between March 15 and September 26, 2020, a new Statistics Canada study has shown.

Women (36.3%) were more likely than men (34.2%) to receive CERB, reflecting the fact that they were more affected by the lockdowns than their male counterparts.

Labour Force Survey data show that from March to September 2020, the total actual hours worked by women fell 16.3% from the same period a year earlier, compared with a 13.1% decline for men.

Roughly two-thirds (66.6%) of workers employed in accommodation and food services in 2019 received CERB payments in 2020, the highest rate among all sectors. The corresponding percentage for their counterparts employed in arts, entertainment, and recreation was 62.7%.

By contrast, relatively few workers employed in utilities (7.0%) or public administration (11.7%) received CERB payments in 2020.

Total value of building permits remains historically high

The total value of building permits remained at historically high levels in April 2021, edging down 0.5% to $11.1 billion, following the record set in March. The slight pullback was mainly due to declines in the residential sector in British Columbia and Quebec, which outweighed national gains in the non-residential sector.

On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), building permits were largely unchanged (-0.0%).

Reading Recommendations

What’s your sales automation strategy?

Harvard Business Review

In this article, we’ll examine sales automation’s overarching benefits, how it can be applied to standard sales processes, and how to successfully adopt new processes to improve your team’s ability to sell. We will also detail five key principles to consider while building and executing on your sales automation strategy.

From ‘deadly enemy’ to ‘covidiots’: Words matter when talking about COVID-19

The Conversation

So much has been said and written about the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve been flooded with metaphors, idioms, symbols, neologisms, memes and tweets. Some have referred to this deluge of words as an infodemic.

And the words we use matter. To paraphrase the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein: the limits of our language are the limits of our world. Words place parameters around our thoughts.

These parameters are the lenses we look through. According to literary theorist Kenneth Burke, “terministic screens” are defined as the language through which we perceive our reality. The screen creates meaning for us, shaping our perspective of the world and our actions within it. The language acting as a screen then determines what our mind selects and what it deflects.

Featured Content

Servant Leadership

Pollice Consulting Group

Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve. Given the upheaval that we have experienced over the past twenty months, servant leadership has been taking on a life of its own in some major organizations.

This is a very different approach from the traditional leadership style where the leader’s main focus is the thriving of their company, usually based on metrics. A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of the employees first and helps people develop and perform as efficiently and effectively as possible. In other words, servant leadership inverts the norm, which puts the customer and the employee as a main priority. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people.

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 2)

Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.

Total doses administered in Niagara: 295,025

Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 4,904

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.

Share this:

Daily Update: June 1st 2021

June 1, 2021 | Daily Update

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.

Ontario maintains COVID-19 restrictions as Stay-at-Home Order is set to expire

Ontario’s Stay-at-Home order will expire on June 2, 2021.

The Stay-At-Home order required Ontarians to remain at home except for the purposes set out in the order, such as exercise, going to the grocery store or pharmacy, or accessing health care services. Once the Stay-at-Home order expires on June 2, these restrictions will no longer be in effect.

However, all other existing measures will remain in place provincewide, including restrictions on gatherings, businesses, services and activities. This includes limiting indoor gatherings to households only and outdoor gatherings to up to five people, subject to limited exceptions, maintaining a cap of 25 per cent capacity for essential retail where only certain goods are permitted to be sold, restricting non-essential retail to curbside pickup and delivery only, as well as limiting short-term rentals to individuals in need of housing and allowing Ontario Parks and campgrounds on public lands to be used for day-use only, subject to limited exceptions.

Paid parking returns to St. Catharines streets, lots and garages; begins at beach lots on June 2

With the provincial stay-at-home order nearing completion, the City of St. Catharines is set to resume paid parking at on-street meter spaces, off-street lots and garages – in addition to the initiation of new paid parking at City beaches.

Earlier this year City Council had approved temporary free parking in response to the provincial restrictions in an effort to support businesses that continued to operate during the shutdown. With reopening set to take place later this month, paid parking will return on June 2.

Free curbside parking will continue at designated spaces downtown, in Port Dalhousie and on Facer Street, offering 15-minute parking for individuals who are accessing local businesses for pickup and takeout.

Niagara Medical Officer of Health offers new COVID-19 briefing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jI5_4X75WY

Real gross domestic product (GDP) grows 1.1% in March

Retail trade grows in March

Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.1% in March, following 0.4% growth in February. This 11th consecutive monthly increase continued to offset the steepest drops in Canadian economic activity on record observed in March and April 2020. However, total economic activity was about 1% below the level observed in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Retail trade increased 3.7% in March, following a 5.9% jump in February, as 10 of 12 subsectors were up.

Activity at building material and garden equipment and supplies retailers jumped 15.3% in March as the continued easing of restrictions and temperatures above the seasonal average in some parts of the country contributed to the growth.

Construction rose 2.2% in March, building up on increases in the previous three months, as all subsectors were up.

The residential building construction subsector contributed the most to the growth, with a 4.1% expansion in March, as all types of construction activities were up.

Reading Recommendations

New stress test level makes it harder to qualify for a mortgage in Canada

CBC News

It’s a bit harder to qualify for home loan as of today as the government has raised the minimum financial bar that anyone applying for a mortgage must meet.

Ottawa raised the level of the so-called “stress test” for mortgages today, setting the new level at 5.25 per cent — or two full percentage points above the borrower’s mortgage rate, whichever is higher. That’s an increase of about half a percentage point from where it was before.

Launched in 2017 to cool down the overheated market of the time, the stress test is a minimum threshold that anyone applying for a home loan in Canada has to meet. It doesn’t make the loan itself any more expensive. Rather, it ensures anyone getting a mortgage will be able to pay it off if rates go up.

Trudeau promises cities help to lower high cost of housing

Canadian Press/BNN Bloomberg

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is promising municipal leaders federal backing and resources toward efforts to address the high cost of housing that he says is creating a crisis for young and middle-class families.

The cost of housing has risen across the country driven by a mix of low interest rates and demand outstripping supply as Canadians working from home look for more space.

Trudeau says the result is that the cost of owning a home is too far out of reach for too many people in Canada’s largest cities, noting it can take 280 months for an average family to save for a down payment in a place like Toronto.

Speaking to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities today, Trudeau says his government would look for ways to change the situation beyond what the Liberals have already laid out.

Featured Content

Servant Leadership

Pollice Consulting Group

Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve. Given the upheaval that we have experienced over the past twenty months, servant leadership has been taking on a life of its own in some major organizations.

This is a very different approach from the traditional leadership style where the leader’s main focus is the thriving of their company, usually based on metrics. A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of the employees first and helps people develop and perform as efficiently and effectively as possible. In other words, servant leadership inverts the norm, which puts the customer and the employee as a main priority. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people.

Niagara COVID status tracker (May 22)

Niagara’s most up-to-date COVID statistics, measured against the targets for the various stages of the Ontario COVID-19 Response Framework, are presented below. This does not predict government policy, but is offered to give you an idea of where Niagara is situated and how likely a relaxation (or further restrictions) may be. These data are the most recent published by Niagara Region. The Grey-Lockdown level does not have its own metrics, but is triggered when the COVID-specific measurements in a Red-Control region have continued to deteriorate.

The Province of Ontario is currently under a stay-at-home order. The COVID-19 Response Framework does not apply during this order. Click here to review the restrictions currently in place.

▲: Metric has increased since last published measurement

▼: Metric has decreased since last published measurement

— : Metric has not changed since last published measurement

	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%

Definitions:

Weekly Incidence Rate: the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per week
Percent Positivity: the number of positive COVID-19 tests as a percentage of all COVID-19 tests performed
Rt: the reproductive rate, or the number of people infected by each case of the virus

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 1)

Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.

Total doses administered in Niagara: 289,993

Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 4,695

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.

Share this:

Daily Update: May 31st 2021

May 31, 2021 | Daily Update

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.

New Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health nominated

The Ontario government is tabling a motion today, that, if passed, would appoint Dr. Kieran Moore as the next Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of Ontario. Dr. Moore would succeed Dr. David Williams effective June 26, 2021. Previously the local medical officer of health for Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health, Dr. Moore is also a member of the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force. Prior to his appointment as the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Moore served as the region’s Associate Medical Officer of Health from 2011 onwards.

Niagara’s municipal flags lowered to honour residential school victims

On behalf of the people of Niagara, Chair Bradley and Niagara’s twelve mayors have asked that flags be lowered at municipal facilities across the region in honour of the 215 children who were recently found in a mass grave at a former residential school in Kamloops. The flags will remain at half-mast for one hour for each of the lives that were taken.

The discovery of this mass grave is a stark reminder of the devastating legacy that the Canadian residential school system continues to have on Indigenous people across our country. As Canadians, we must never forget that residential schools forcefully removed Indigenous children from their families, robbed them of their culture, and exposed many of them to physical, mental and sexual abuse.

For those looking for support, the Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available for former residential school students and others by calling 1-866-925-4419.

St. Catharines project aims to ease isolation for seniors

The City of St. Catharines will deliver a new program starting in June that focuses on easing the isolation felt by seniors in our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funded by a New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) federal grant, the program will provide 2,700 free take-away bags over the next six months for seniors in the community. The bags will have themes such as home safety, fitness, birding, gardening, and more, and will include activities, equipment and pertinent information.

For more information and details about take-away bag pickup locations and dates, visit www.stcatharines.ca/OAC.

Softwood lumber prices climbed 169% since last year

Prices for products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), rose 1.6% month over month in April and 14.3% compared with April 2020. The increase in the IPPI was driven mostly by higher prices for lumber and other wood products (+6.4%), which have been on the rise since December 2020. Steadily increasing prices for softwood lumber (+10.1%) led this growth. Over one year, softwood lumber prices have climbed 169.4%, their largest year-over-year increase in history. Persistent demand for softwood lumber in the United States and Canada for construction and residential renovations, combined with lower supply, drove this category upward.

Reading Recommendations

High-flying tech stocks could ‘collapse’

BNN Bloomberg

Legendary investor Stephen Jarislowsky is warning investors may want to stay away from the high-flying tech stocks.

In a television interview Monday, Jarislowsky, the founder and former chairman of Jarislowsky Fraser, said the outperformance of the tech sector since the start of the pandemic could eventually end in tears.

“Short-term, I would say that in high-tech and speculative growth stocks, there could very well be a collapse at some point, because that has been bought by the gamblers,” he said.

Though the rally in the so-called FAANG stocks – Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Netflix Inc. and Google parent company Alphabet Inc. – has eased amid inflationary fears, the group remains well above pre-pandemic levels.

Rather than chasing the hot tech sector, Jarislowsky said he favours more staid names that can benefit from long-term trends.

The dangers of decision fatigue

The Economist

“Have a break” is a slogan associated with the popular chocolate snack, KitKat. But it may be pretty good advice for any manager or worker, minus the calories. The longer the shift, the less effective the employee may become.

In a new paper for Royal Society Open Finance, “Quantifying the cost of decision fatigue: suboptimal risk decisions in finance”, Tobias Baer and Simone Schnall examine the credit decisions of loan officers at a leading bank over the course of their working day. The academics write that decision fatigue “typically involves a tendency to revert to the ‘default’ option, namely whatever choice involves relatively little mental effort”. In other words, as you become tired, you get mentally lazy.

Niagara COVID status tracker (May 22)

The Province of Ontario is currently under a stay-at-home order. The COVID-19 Response Framework does not apply during this order. Click here to review the restrictions currently in place.

▲: Metric has increased since last published measurement

▼: Metric has decreased since last published measurement

— : Metric has not changed since last published measurement

	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%

Definitions:

Weekly Incidence Rate: the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per week
Percent Positivity: the number of positive COVID-19 tests as a percentage of all COVID-19 tests performed
Rt: the reproductive rate, or the number of people infected by each case of the virus

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (May 31)

Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.

Total doses administered in Niagara: 285,279

Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 2,297

	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%

Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.

Share this:

Your browser is not supported

Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses

Ontario will move to Step One of the Roadmap to Reopen on June 11, 2021

Niagara Medical Officer of Health delivers COVID-19 briefing

Arterra Wines acquires Vin First

Semiconductor shortage in auto industry causes Canadian import/export decline

Reading Recommendations

Niagara COVID Stats Tracker (May 29)

Guide

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 8)

Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses

Ontario to begin reopening on June 11

Deputy Prime Minister clarifies new Canada Recovery Hiring Program and extension of business support measures

Niagara Regional Councillor Diana Huson elected to FCM board of directors

Reading Recommendations

Niagara COVID Stats Tracker (May 29)

Guide

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 7)

Retailers

Bars, restaurants, and other food & drink establishments

Personal care services

Veterinary and pet services

Lawn care and landscaping

Marinas and boating clubs

Sports, recreational facilities, fitness classes and personal training

Events, attractions, and entertainment

Day camps and campgrounds

Construction

Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses

Niagara employment rises by 3,900 in May, national employment drops 0.4%

Ontario expanding accelerated second dose booking

Reading Recommendations

Niagara COVID Stats Tracker (May 29)

Guide

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 4)

Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses

Ontario Updating AstraZeneca Second Dose Guidance

Ontario government to invest in raising high-school student interest in skilled trades and technology careers

St. Catharines residents asked to give feedback on Development Charges

Niagara Health shows excellence in Laboratory Medicine with Accreditation in Diagnostics

CRTC seeks input on three-digit number for mental health crisis and suicide prevention services

Reading Recommendations

Featured Content

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 3)

3 problems, some very easy solutions

5 ways to easily secure your Wi-Fi network

Why is my wireless connection so slow?

How to optimize the power of your wireless network

Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses

Remote learning to continue across Ontario for the remainder of school year

GNCC calls for further business supports as restrictions continue

Youth and family vaccination clinics to begin June 14 in Niagara

St. Catharines unveils first Pride Crosswalk as commitment to inclusivity and diversity continues

One in three Canadian workers received CERB payments in 2020

Total value of building permits remains historically high

Reading Recommendations

Featured Content

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 2)

Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses

Ontario maintains COVID-19 restrictions as Stay-at-Home Order is set to expire

Paid parking returns to St. Catharines streets, lots and garages; begins at beach lots on June 2

Niagara Medical Officer of Health offers new COVID-19 briefing

Real gross domestic product (GDP) grows 1.1% in March

Reading Recommendations

Featured Content

Niagara COVID status tracker (May 22)

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (June 1)

Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses

New Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health nominated

Niagara’s municipal flags lowered to honour residential school victims

St. Catharines project aims to ease isolation for seniors

Softwood lumber prices climbed 169% since last year

Reading Recommendations

Niagara COVID status tracker (May 22)

Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (May 31)