Niagara Regional Council unanimously supported a motion from St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik calling upon Niagara Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mustafa Hirji to amend his recent order under Section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.
The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
Niagara Regional Council unanimously supported a motion from St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik calling upon Niagara Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mustafa Hirji to amend his recent order under Section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act. The requested amendment would remove the directive that restaurants only seat people from the same household together. The GNCC has called for the order to be rescinded. It should be noted, however, that Regional Council does not have the authority to amend or enforce Dr. Hirji’s order, which can only be done by the Health Services Appeal and Review Board. A decision by the Board can, in turn, only be appealed to the Divisional Court of Ontario. Only a person or a member of a class affected by the order can appeal to the Board.
The Ontario government is investing over $2.2 million through the Ontario Together Fund to provide small businesses with free, tailored financial advice and online training to help them make informed financial decisions and navigate the unprecedented economic circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding includes $2,040,000 to support Ontario’s 47 Small Business Enterprise Centres (SBEC) led by the Business Advisory Centre Durham to create a new Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Network, $131,000 for Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada to develop and deliver a four-part COVID-19-specific financial literacy tool kit for small businesses, and $51,000 for Financial Advisors Association of Canada, a non-profit association of financial advisors, to provide pro-bono professional financial advice for small companies through its online platform, Advocis Connect.
Ontario is now accepting applications from municipalities for funding of local infrastructure projects under the COVID-19 Resilience stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. Under this new stream, which was first announced by Minister McKenna on August 5, 2020, the federal government will cover up to 80 per cent of eligible project costs in provinces and 100 per cent for territorial and Indigenous projects. In Ontario this stream represents up to $1.1 billion in funding and will support a wide range of pandemic-resilient projects like upgrading schools and long-term care homes with things like HVAC and physical distancing measures, or building new parks, cycling and walking paths to help Canadians get outside and stay active.
Legally bind the Government to a process to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Set rolling five-year emissions-reduction targets and require plans to reach each one and report on progress.
Establish the Net-Zero Advisory Body to provide independent advice to the Government on the best pathway to reach its targets.
Require the Government of Canada to publish an annual report describing how departments and crown corporations are considering the financial risks and opportunities of climate change in their decision-making.
Enshrine greater accountability and public transparency into Canada’s plan for meeting net-zero emissions by 2050.
Provide for independent third-party review by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to ensure accountability for all future governments.
St. Catharines is moving ahead with its Transportation Master Plan (TMP) and is now seeking public input. A Transportation Master Plan is a long-range strategy that will ultimately guide the future of transportation within St. Catharines to support community growth. Designed as a strategy to assist City staff to proactively plan for the future of the City, the TMP supports infrastructure implementation, behaviour change and policy directions. To-date, the City has gathered input from interactive online engagement tools, engagement pop-ups at Brock University, working sessions with internal and external stakeholders and public input sessions. The draft TMP recommendations will be presented to the community on Dec. 3, 2020, via an online meeting, which the City will stream on YouTube.
New data published by Statistics Canada in the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions (CSBC) reveals that businesses in the food service and accommodation industry have laid off staff at nearly double the rate of other businesses (62.1% versus the national average of 36.5%). Worryingly, this places restaurants and hotels 15 points worse-off than any other industry. Looking forward, 22.5% of businesses in accommodation and food services also expect to decrease their staffing levels over the next three months, which is more than double the national average (10.4%). While these businesses reported they had applied for a number of government supports, less than a quarter (23%) were approved for CECRA, the previous commercial rent support program. For more data on how the food services industry has been impacted by COVID-19, click here.
The U.K. and Canada are on the brink of signing a new trade agreement to replace the existing deal Britain has through European Union membership. An announcement is expected within days, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition they not be identified. The U.K. is Canada’s third-largest export market after the U.S. and China. In the first nine months of this year, Canada has exported C$14 billion ($10.7 billion) in merchandise exports to the U.K., while it imported C$6.9 billion. Last year, Canada was the U.K.’s 15th-largest export market.
According to the latest findings of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the French capital has the highest living costs in the world. Hong Kong and Zurich share the top spot in the survey, which compares the prices of nearly 140 products and services in 133 cities around the world. The results are primarily used by firms to negotiate appropriate compensation when relocating staff, but they also reveal the myriad ways covid-19 is affecting the cost of living.
When US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci tells Congress, as he did in July, that he’s optimistic a vaccine will be ready in late 2020 or early 2021, it’s tempting to imagine that as the moment when we can once again engage in all the activities that remain laced with fear, like hopping a plane, or seeing a concert, or hugging a grandpa. An effective vaccine represents an enormous, exciting move in that direction. But it’s not the pandemic finish line—it’s more like a pandemic off-ramp.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
Niagara Regional Council will hold a special meeting today at 4:30pm to discuss a COVID update from Dr. Mustafa Hirji and to receive delegations and correspondence regarding the recent Section 22 order.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.
The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
Niagara Regional Council will hold a special meeting today at 4:30pm to discuss a COVID update from Dr. Mustafa Hirji and to receive delegations and correspondence regarding the recent Section 22 order. The livestream can be viewed here.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) has released its National Cyber Threat Assessment 2020. This public report, based on both classified and unclassified sources, identifies current trends in the cyber threat environment, the likelihood that these cyber threats will occur, and how Canadians could be affected. The second iteration of the unclassified assessment notes that the number of cyber threat actors is increasing, and they are becoming more sophisticated, that cybercrime will almost certainly continue to be the cyber threat most likely to affect Canadians, and that Ransomware attacks will almost certainly continue to target large enterprises and critical infrastructure providers. State-sponsored actors will almost certainly continue to attempt to steal Canadian intellectual property and proprietary information, especially related to COVID-19. Read the full assessment here.
Niagara Region, the City of Niagara Falls and Niagara Regional Housing are collaborating on the development of an innovative Bridge and permanent supportive housing project in Niagara Falls. The project, located at 5017 Victoria Avenue, a former library building, will leverage a surplus building provided by the City of Niagara Falls to help address a significant unmet need in Niagara for those living in a state of chronic homelessness and who have demonstrated high significant need in the areas of mental health, addictions, and physical health. This new facility will include up to 21 beds of temporary Bridge Housing for individuals preparing for permanent housing and permanent supportive housing, as well as three beds of recuperative care.
The Town of Grimsby has officially released their new Interactive Mapping Hub, available now on the Town’s website. Applications are now available to connect users with detailed information that can be accessed through almost any device to find property information, municipal amenities and services, and more.
Join the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, for a virtual seminar to learn about opportunities in the European market and how the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) can help you navigate the real benefits of the Canada-European Union Trade Agreement (CETA) for your business during these challenging times. Canadian export‑ready companies, especially SMEs, who are not yet exporting their products or services to the EU but are interested in doing so; or already export their products or services to the EU but are looking to expand their business with support and resources from the TCS, should consider attending. Register now to participate in this free event. When prompted, please use the following invitation code to access the registration form: CETA3RD
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a massive allocation of resources towards producing solutions, from identifying life-saving medications, tracking how the virus spreads and ultimately to preventing infection with vaccines. On Nov. 9, Pfizer announced preliminary trial results showing that a vaccine it developed with BioNTech was about 90 per cent effective. That was followed up nine days later with final trial results and two months of safety data, indicating a 95 per cent effectiveness rate. This is good news, but we need to understand what it means so life can ultimately go back to normal.
The energy used to heat the spaces we live and work in is one of the highest contributors to our individual carbon footprints. Globally, heat accounts for nearly half of all energy consumption and 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Of course, exactly how much of your own emissions come from heating your home will depend on where you live. In cooler and temperate climates, that tends to be a far bigger proportion. There are plenty of less carbon intensive alternatives for householders to switch to, such as using electric heating, heat pumps, or even district heat networks, where a central source is used to heat water, which is then shared among nearby houses through networks of pipes.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
The Government of Ontario is helping businesses recover costs for personal protective equipment and providing extra support for businesses required to close or significantly restrict services as a result of provincial public health measures
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.
The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
The Government of Ontario is helping businesses recover costs for personal protective equipment and providing extra support for businesses required to close or significantly restrict services as a result of provincial public health measures. Funding applications are now open. Your business can apply online for funding from one or more of the following initiatives:
Main Street Relief Grant for Personal protective equipment (PPE) providing up to $1,000 for PPE costs to eligible small businesses across Ontario with 2 to 9 employees.
Property Tax and Energy Cost Rebate Grants for businesses that were required to shut down or significantly restrict services due to provincial public health measures (modified Stage 2 restrictions or, going forward, in areas categorized as control or lockdown). This provincial application-based grant provides a rebate to eligible businesses in respect of property taxes and energy bills.
Today, the GNCC held the second session of the 2020 Niagara Economic Summit, a three-part virtual series. Review the discussion here. Our guests were Inna Breidburg, Senior Analyst, Economics at CMHC; Brock Dickinson, Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo; Doug Giles, Director, Community & Long-Range Planning, Niagara Region; and Karen Pastakia, Partner and Ontario Consulting Leader at Deloitte. The panel was moderated by Dr. Suzanne Johnston, Strategic Advisor to the YMCA of Niagara and former President of Niagara Health.
“The progress we had planned for a few years had taken place overnight.” — Karen Pastakia
“It’s not that we didn’t build enough homes. We had a significant shift in the types of homes being built.” – Inna Breidburg
“We’re expected to grow to a population of about 600,000 people by 2051.” — Doug Giles
“We need to think about what comes next. Hyperloops may sound like science fiction, but we already have four proposals for hyperloops in Ontario.” — Brock Dickinson
A special meeting of Niagara Regional Council will take place tomorrow at 4:30pm, where Dr. Mustafa Hirji, the region’s acting medical officer of health, will answer questions about the controversial Section 22 order recently placed upon Niagara’s restaurants. A group of restaurant businesses called United Hospitality Niagara has joined the GNCC in calling for the order to be rescinded. Regional Council does not have the power to overturn the order, which can only be done by the Board of Health for the Niagara health unit.
The Government of Ontario is now accepting applications from municipalities for local infrastructure projects under the new Local Government sub-stream of the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure stream. Eligible projects include infrastructure to support physical distancing, social infrastructure, active transportation and disaster mitigation projects. Each municipality is allocated a certain amount of funding for which they can apply, with a minimum allocation of $100,000. Successful projects will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis and be nominated by the Province to the federal government for approval by March 2021.
increasing control and transparency when Canadians’ personal information is handled by companies;
giving Canadians the freedom to move their information from one organization to another in a secure manner;
ensuring that Canadians have the ability to demand that their information be destroyed;
providing the Privacy Commissioner with broad order-making powers, including the ability to force an organization to comply and the ability to order a company to stop collecting data or using personal information; and
ensuring the strongest fines among G7 privacy laws—with fines of up to 5% of revenue or $25 million, whichever is greater, for the most serious offences.
The Government of Canada has also launched an online public consultation on the review of the Privacy Act, led by Justice Canada, to ask Canadians to share their views on modernizing the Act. The Act regulates federal public sector institutions’ collection, use, disclosure, retention, and disposal of personal information. Members of the public are invited to share their views by participating in the online public consultation until January 17, 2021. The consultation can be accessed here.
NRT OnDemand service is coming to Niagara-on-the-Lake starting Nov. 23. Riders in Niagara-on-the-Lake will be able to book a shared ride for local trips to/from the designated area within their municipality. The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake desired a system to facilitate trips along Regional Rd. 55 (Niagara Stone Rd.) while including the areas of Old Town, Virgil and Glendale. NRT On-Demand will operate in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday to Saturday. The adult fare for trips within the municipality is $3.00. However, riders will be able to connect to Niagara Region Transit conventional service at the transit hub located at the Outlet Collection at Niagara for a $6.00 fare, which includes both the local fare and the transfer.
Office employees are getting used to the perks of telecommuting, and expect it to continue even after the pandemic ends, but most aren’t ready to abandon the office entirely, according to a survey by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. A majority of employees want to continue working from home at least two days a week, according to the brokerage’s survey of more than 2,000 workers globally. Only 26 per cent want to work from home full time after the COVID-19 pandemic passes.
GitLab’s CEO says the problem isn’t remote work, but how it’s practiced. Unless you’re employed by one of the handful of companies that have fully embraced the new work reality, Sijbrandij thinks you’re probably doing it wrong. His radical take on remote work: It’s effective only if you go all in. Partial measures will create tiers of employees who will split the workforce over time, driving away top-performing remote workers who don’t want to compete with lesser-achieving on-site colleagues.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
The Ontario government has announced the establishment of Supply Ontario, a new centralized procurement agency that will enable a whole-of-government approach to purchasing goods and services.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.
The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
The Ontario government has announced the establishment of Supply Ontario, a new centralized procurement agency that will enable a whole-of-government approach to purchasing goods and services. The GNCC had previously expressed its concerns over this move, since very few small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would be able to participate in a procurement process that supplied the entire Government of Ontario. In fact, we felt that contracts were now far more likely to go to large international firms not even based in Ontario or Canada at all. The GNCC has partnered with the Thunder Bay, Greater Peterborough, North Bay & District, Sarnia Lambton, Sault Ste Marie, Timmins, and Ontario Chambers of Commerce in asking for regional procurement hubs that mandate public buyers to use a blended portfolio of national, provincial, and regional suppliers to derive the greatest total value for purchases. The signatory chambers feel that total value is not just cost to taxpayers, but a balanced consideration of price, regional economic impact, and other important factors including but not limited to sustainability and cultural inclusion.
Moderna has become the second firm to report positive results from a COVID-19 vaccine trial, with 95% effectiveness reported. Unlike the earlier vaccine from Pfizer, this vaccine can be stored and shipped with standard refrigeration. Moderna claims it can manufacture a billion doses by the end of 2021, in addition to 1.3 billion from Pfizer/BioNTech. Assessment by regulators is pending.
Niagara Region has reported that it is continuing to enforce provincial COVID-19 regulations. Between Sept. 18 and Nov. 7, Regional by-law officers conducted 126 inspections of Niagara businesses in every municipality, including bars and restaurants, retail locations and others. Those inspections have resulted in seven Part I Provincial Offence tickets ($750 fine) and three Part III summons (elevated fine) being issued for infractions under the Reopening Ontario Act, O.Reg. 364/20. Niagara Region’s by-law officers will also be supporting enforcement of Public Health’s order under Section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act. The aim of enforcement, the Region claims, is not to punish local businesses, but rather to ensure that they are able to stay open safely. The GNCC has expressed its opposition to the Section 22 order and called for it to be rescinded immediately. Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates, St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens, and Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch have called on the Government of Ontario to offer more support to the restaurant and bar industry.
Some see RCEP as so unambitious as to be largely symbolic. Others see it as an important building block in a new world order, in which China calls the shots all over Asia. The truth lies somewhere in between. RCEP does not herald a dramatic liberalisation of Asian trade. Its origins are as a kind of tidying-up exercise: joining together in one overarching compact the various free-trade agreements (FTAs) between the ten-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and several other countries in the Asia-Pacific: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
This development doesn’t mean we can all relax and start doing more things. It means we need to tighten up even further until the vaccine becomes available. The goal is now no longer to learn to live indefinitely with the virus. It’s to get as many people through the winter as possible without getting sick.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
The GNCC is asking that Niagara Health’s recent order under Section 22 of the the Health Protection and Promotion Act be rescinded immediately. We feel that this measure punishes the law-abiding and will harm compliant businesses. Read our media release here.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.
The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
The GNCC is asking that Niagara Health’s recent order under Section 22 of the the Health Protection and Promotion Act be rescinded immediately. We feel that this measure punishes the law-abiding and will harm compliant businesses. Read our media release here.
In consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and the Public Health Measures Table, the Ontario government is taking immediate action to respond to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases and is updating the Keeping Ontario Safe and Open Framework, by lowering the thresholds for each level in the framework. The framework changes are in response to the current data and trends, and will lower the threshold for each of the five levels for: weekly incidence rates, positivity rate, effective reproductive number (Rt), outbreak trends and the level of community transmission. Based on the new changes, Niagara will move from the Yellow-Protect level into the Orange-Restrict level as of November 16 at 12:01 a.m., and the following requirements will be in effect:
Contact information required for all seated patrons
No more than four people seated together
Volume of music to be limited to conversational level
Safety plans to be prepared and provided upon request
Face coverings required at sport and recreational facilities except when exercising
Face coverings required at all indoor workplaces
Eye protection required for workers coming within 2 metres of patrons not wearing face coverings
Increase spacing between patrons to 3m for areas of a sport or recreational facility where there are weights/weight machines and exercise/fitness classes
Recreational programs limited to 10 people per room indoors and 25 outdoors
Require contact information for all patrons and attendance for team sports
Require appointments for entry; one reservation for teams
Social gatherings limited to 10 people indoors or 25 outdoors (may not be combined)
Limit operating hours, establishments close at 10 p.m.
Liquor sold or served only between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
No consumption of liquor between 10 p.m. and 9 a.m.
Require screening of patrons at businesses and/or mall entrances (e.g. a questionnaire)
Closure of strip clubs
Fitting rooms limited to non-adjacent stalls
Maximum of 50 people at a supervised event indoors or 100 outdoors (may not be combined)
Maximum 50 people at any event, sport or recreational venue (revoke CMOH approved plan) in all combined recreational fitness spaces or programs (not pools, rinks at arenas, community centres, and multi-purpose facilities)
Limit duration of stay (e.g. 60 minutes) at sport and recreational facilities; exemption for sports
No spectators at sporting venues or events permitted (exemption for parent/guardian supervision of children)
Personal care services requiring removal of face coverings prohibited
Change rooms & showers closed
Bath houses, other adult venues, hot tubs, floating pools and sensory deprivation pods closed (some exceptions)
Religious services, weddings, and funerals limited to 30% capacity indoors or 100 people outdoors
Other restrictions under the Orange-Protect regime can be reviewed here.
The Canadian Survey of Business Conditions by Statistics Canada revealed that 30% of businesses still operating in October no longer know how they can continue to operate under the existing conditions, and a further 11% indicate they can only operate for 3 more months. Canadian Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist and Vice-President of Policy, Dr. Trevin Stratton, asked policy makers to be laser-focused on the nature of fiscal spending, and to focus on programs that address issues in specific sectors. The one-size-fits-all approach to support programs is not sustainable through 2022, he said, and it may not be particularly useful at this stage of the pandemic.
Linc Rogers, a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, said it’s clear to him there are a number of “zombie” companies staggering on in Canada, appearing nearly normal yet propped up only by government subsidies, wage support, tax remittance deferrals and general government-backed stimulus.
Over the past eight months, managing work and kids has accelerated from a complex, persistent challenge into an all-out crisis. We’ve had to handle full-time jobs, full-time care, and full-time oversight of our kids’ education, without the benefit of our regular support systems.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
Local restaurants, bars, wineries, breweries, and other food and beverage service operators will soon be required to ask for information including if patrons have any symptoms of illness, and to confirm that patrons are dining only with their household or persons essential to maintaining physical and mental health
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
Local restaurants, bars, wineries, breweries, and other food and beverage service operators will soon be required to ask for information including if patrons have any symptoms of illness, and to confirm that patrons are dining only with their household or persons essential to maintaining physical and mental health. A workplace-based checklist that can be used when questioning patrons can be downloaded here. Acting Medical Officer of Health for Niagara Region Dr. M. Mustafa Hirji has issued a message to the Niagara community urging everyone in Niagara to:
Limit in-person social interactions to people within your household and avoid in-person social interactions with friends, with co-workers when not at work, and with extended family. Dining at restaurants, going to the movies, or partaking in other social activities should be limited to household members.
Stay home if you have any symptoms of illness, however mild.
The City Council of St. Catharines has approved the 2020 Community Improvement Plan (CIP) to provide funding for redevelopment projects that include the provision of affordable housing, commercial buildings and heritage preservation, in addition to brownfield sites to ensure contaminated land is cleaned up and restored. Since 2004, the City has approved 98 CIP applications with a commitment of approximately $20.75 million. Once all projects are completed as approved, they will represent the generation of approximately 2,100 new residential dwelling units, 280 permanent new jobs and an estimated increase in property tax assessment of approximately $396 million. Formal passage of the by-law will be before Council on Nov. 16.
Heddle Shipyards has reached a new long-term agreement with Vancouver-based shipyard Seaspan to fabricate Ontario-made ship components under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Over the next decade, Heddle Shipyards will be the primary supplier for ladders, gratings and handrails for the JSS 1 (currently under construction), JSS 2, and an Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel. These components will be manufactured at their facilities in St. Catharines, Hamilton, and Thunder Bay.
The Ontario government is investing $500 million over four years to make public sector services more customer-focused, and more efficient and cost effective. The funding is flowing through the Ontario Onwards Acceleration Fund to support modernization projects such as making government services more digitally accessible, reducing red tape and simplifying policies, and improving government purchasing to save both time and money. This initiative is part of the 2020 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover. Details were announced today by Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board and Minister Responsible for Digital and Data Transformation, Amy Fee, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, and Michael Harris, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.
The Ontario Onwards Acceleration Fund will help with the implementation of projects that emphasize digital-first and lean methods to ensure efficient and effective delivery, while also providing seed funding to set up pilot projects that test-drive new initiatives that show promise. In some cases this could include collaboration with the private sector. Projects eligible for funding must have:
A strong return on investment and deliver immediate benefits to the people and businesses of Ontario
Focus on the outcomes and needs of Ontarians
Clear governance to ensure accountability and support the tracking and reporting of results
European Union regulators have filed antitrust charges against Amazon, stating that the company is using data from companies selling products on its website in order to gain an unfair advantage for its own offerings. This is the latest in a salvo against Big Tech from EU regulators, including a total of $10 billion of antitrust fines levied against Google and two antitrust investigations into Apple. It also follows last month’s filing of antitrust charges against Google by the U.S. Department of Justice and an investigation into Amazon by the Competition Bureau of Canada.
To gain more insight on COVID-19’s impact on the retail sector, Niagara Workforce Planning Board is conducting one-on-one engagements and focus groups with local retailers. If you would like to participate, please contact NWPB Project Manager Thalia Semplonius at thalia@nwpb.ca.
While researchers have worked for months to develop COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, contact-tracing apps like COVID Trace have been touted as one of the technology world’s most promising contributions to the fight against the pandemic. But seven months into the U.S. outbreak, such apps have made slow progress across the country, hampered by sluggish and uncoordinated development, distrust of technology companies, and inadequate advertising budgets and messaging campaigns.
Restaurant advocates warn that this winter will be even more destructive for the sector than the early shutdowns last spring, since anxiety over COVID-19 is once again rising and patios are closing. But what’s easy to miss in all the talk of mass closures, public health restrictions and government subsidies is that this is a crisis playing out thousands of times over, one flailing restaurant after another, each a protracted and painful time for the people who built that business.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
The Government of Canada is providing $1.75 billion to advance large, high-impact projects to connect Canadians to broadband internet across the country
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
Originally announced in Budget 2019 as a $1 billion program, the Government of Canada is now providing $1.75 billion to advance large, high-impact projects to connect Canadians to broadband internet across the country, which will leverage partnerships including with the Canada Infrastructure Bank broadband initiative. The program will include a $150 million Rapid Response Stream with an accelerated application process that will allow shovel-ready projects to get started right away. In Southern Ontario, the Government of Canada has invested a total of $174 million in 14 projects, which will connect 25,661 households.
The CRTC’s Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer (CCEO) has taken a number of enforcement actions, including issuing over $100,000 in penalties, against several real estate, investment and mortgage agents and brokerages. The agents and brokerages hired a telemarketing firm to recruit prospective clients, which did not abide by the CRTC’s Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. Among other things, individuals and businesses who hire a firm to make calls on their behalf must ensure that the telemarketer is updating its calling list and that no calls are being made to consumers whose telephone numbers have been registered on the National Do Not Call List for more than 31 days. Should the telemarketer fail to do so, the contracting individual or business can be held liable for their violations. Businesses can review the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules here.
The Government of Canada has designated Hamilton as a Foreign Trade Zone Point, the third announced in Ontario and one of 14 in Canada. The program aims to make regions more attractive to businesses and foreign direct investment by offering a single point of access to resources and information relating to programs that relieve duties, tariffs and taxes for business. Niagara was designated as a Foreign Trade Zone Point in 2016.
The Government of Canada has announced $5.1 million in funding to support 46 new projects to protect and restore the Great Lakes through the Great Lakes Protection Initiative in 2020–21. The Great Lakes Protection Initiative supports projects that address key Great Lakes priorities such as restoring areas of concern, preventing toxic and nuisance algae, reducing releases of harmful chemicals, engaging Indigenous Peoples on Great Lakes issues, and increasing public engagement through citizen science.
The GNCC and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce are looking for your insight on what matters to business amidst the pandemic. The interactive results from the second round are live! Click here to see the preliminary results. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is committed to ensuring government understands the issues impacting business in this province. That’s why we need your help to express the voice of business loud and clear at Queen’s Park. This survey will take a deeper dive on business confidence, government support programs, as well as other pressing issues. Tell us how confident you are in Ontario’s economy and recovery, and what your organization’s outlook is for 2021. Please share your views by taking a short three-minute survey. This survey is being conducted by Golfdale Consulting, an independent consulting firm.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should direct more of his government’s COVID-19 plan to programs that encourage consumers to spend on services like restaurants, minimizing leakage of cash out of the economy, according to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Canadian households are spending a disproportionate share of emergency support money on imported consumer goods, meaning government efforts aren’t as effective as they could be. More than 50 per cent of every dollar spent on clothes, for example, goes to pay suppliers abroad, compared with services such as haircuts, where most of the money goes toward paying staff and fixed costs like rent.
We estimate that at least half of residential internet users across southern Ontario are currently working remotely full-time during the COVID-19 pandemic. New data from Durham Region indicates that for three days a week, the remote worker saves nearly $19,000, with an estimated annual environmental benefit of 3,205 kilograms of carbon dioxide offset by not commuting an average of 96 kilometres per day. There is little doubt that Ontarians all over the province need improved connectivity. R2B2 researchers recently examined more than 18 million internet connection tests conducted by Ontarians in 2019 and found average effective download speeds below five Mbps for 127 out of 740 grouped communities in Ontario. This means that 17 per cent of Ontario communities were found to have extremely poor quality internet access.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
The Ontario government is proposing to give municipalities the flexibility to target property tax relief to small businesses.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
Today saw the first panel of the Niagara Economic Summit. Those who missed the live broadcast can watch the full discussion on YouTube; or through our microsite which includes discussion and live polls. Two more sessions of the Summit will follow on the 17th and the 24th. Registration is free.
“The biggest worry that we have is that the number of cases around the world is really increasing… We expect a contraction in the world economy.” Pierre Cleroux, Vice-President, Research & Chief Economist, BDC
“The pandemic is very much showing what was already broken in society.” Maya Roy, CEO, YWCA Canada
“For those of us who’ve been in government, we can tell you this is breakneck speed for government, but by private sector terms, it isn’t, and often governments have been a day late and a dollar short.” The Hon. Perrin Beatty, President & CEO, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
“Our primary source of income is the property tax. We have been able to waive some late payment fees, for instance, but we’re really not able to say to people ‘you don’t have to pay your taxes at all’ because our operations have to continue.” Jim Bradley, Niagara Regional Chair
“Ultimately, we’re going to have to move from an economy of subsidy to one of private-sector economic growth. What are the things that are going to allow us to build in economic growth for the future?” Rocco Rossi, President & CEO, Ontario Chamber of Commerce
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is hosting a webinar tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. ET with TELUS that focuses on 5G. Join the conversation as Navin Arora, President Business Solutions at TELUS, and Pau Castells, Director of Economic Analysis at GSMA, examine how 5G will revolutionize and transform business operations and influence customer revenues and drive $150 billion to the Canadian economy over the next 20 years.
Hotel Dieu Shaver (HDS) Health and Rehabilitation Centre is embarking upon a brand refresh which will be shaped by community feedback in order to make our services clearer to stakeholders, and would like to know your perceptions and impressions of Hotel Dieu Shaver along with opinions about future marketing and branding considerations.
In 2019, retail trade businesses provided over 25,000 full and part-time jobs, representing nearly 14% of all jobs in Niagara. Prior to COVID-19, retailers were already under pressure to adapt to a growing online world and ever increasing competition. Join GNCC CEO, Mishka Balsom and guests Daniel Safayeni, Director of Policy, Ontario Chamber of Commerce and Thalia Semplonius, Project Manager, Niagara Workforce Planning Board, for a dialogue on the challenges and opportunities within the retail sector, and how we can ensure a resilient recovery within the post pandemic retail environment.
Experts who study the way we think and make decisions say that it can be more than politics driving our decision-making this year. The unprecedented nature of the pandemic undermines how we process information and assess risk. Need proof? Look around.
Democrats, who have been focusing intensely on the opportunity to take down Trump for four years, could treat this as the brink of an enormous victory. The underwhelming Democratic performance in House and Senate races combine with, at best, a Biden nail-biter to produce an unsatisfying result. But the reality is that this election was never going to feel like a real victory; the problems the Trump presidency has exposed run far deeper than a “blue wave” could resolve.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
Pfizer and BioNTech have announced their mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, against SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated evidence of efficacy against COVID-19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on the first interim efficacy analysis conducted on November 8, 2020 by an external, independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) from the Phase 3 clinical study.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, as well as policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here.The Government of Canada has a support page with summaries of current programs and application portals.
Vital updates:
Pfizer and BioNTech have announcedtheir mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, against SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated evidence of efficacy against COVID-19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on the first interim efficacy analysis conducted on November 8, 2020 by an external, independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) from the Phase 3 clinical study. The vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis. Submission for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planned for soon after the required safety milestone is achieved, which is currently expected to occur in the third week of November. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the development ‘encouraging’ and stated that the government has already secured millions of doses, which it hopes to begin distributing in the first three months of 2021. Trudeau said that while Pfizer’s results are promising, Canadians must continue to adhere to public health guidelines to keep caseloads manageable.
Today, Niagara Region Public Health launched the COVID-19 Community Health Survey. Through this confidential web-based survey, Public Health hopes to gain an understanding of the impact that COVID-19 is having on Niagara residents and use that information to help inform ongoing response plans, programs, and services. Residents can participate in the survey and share their thoughts for the chance to win a Walmart gift card. The survey is also available on Public Health’s website.
Deloitte’s flagship conference is going virtual. Join 360 by Deloitte on November 17-18, and 19 for a uniquely interactive event focused on the insights from Catalyst: A vision for a thriving Canada in 2030and network with public and private sector executives from all over Canada. There is no cost to attend. Contact Deloitte to learn more at d360@deloitte.ca.
Deloitte’s Future of Canada Centre is excited to launch the first in a series of Catalyst reports. This report aims to spark debate and facilitate a dialogue about the actions needed to stop our economy from settling back into its anemic pre-pandemic path. By encouraging action now, we can instead create a better Canadian society for all by 2030.
According to Deloitte Canada’s annual holiday retail spending survey, which polled 1,000 Canadians in September, respondents said they expected to spend an average of $1,405 during the holidays — down 18 per cent from the previous year.
Most experts agree that the results are exciting and excellent news, but the optimism should come with a note of caution: the results are preliminary, have been shared only by press release, and the trials are not yet complete. There are certainly still many questions that need to be answered, including how long protection via the vaccine might last, whether it protects those who have previously had coronavirus, and whether it prevents people from catching the virus and passing it on or simply reduces the severity of symptoms.
Niagara Economic Summit Series 2020
Where are we now, how did we get here, and where do we go? This year’s summit, taking place between November 10 and November 24, brings experts and leaders together from across the country to identify where we are economically, what our future opportunities are, and how we can seize them. Find out more and get a calendar save-the-date here.
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
