Chamber Blog

It’s no surprise how many talented young leaders we have in our community. Did you know that they now have a chance to win a micro-grant through Tomorrow’s Leaders Starting Out (ToLSO) micro-grant program. This initiative is brought to you by the Nigerian Canadian for Cultural, Educational, Economic Progress (NCCEEP), funded in part by the Read More

The Federal Government released it’s “2023 – Fall Economic Update”. We provide our take aways and valuable snippets from the report here. Comparably, this update does not make large financial investments, and the government also projects a larger deficit of $38.4 billion for 2024-2025 (projected to be $35 billion in March), which they expect will Read More

In an astonishing U-turn following the widespread and collective protests of environmental activists, local communities and business; the Ontario Government reversed the removal of 7,400 acres from the two-million-acre protected swath of land known as the Greenbelt. This decision was announced on September 21, 2023. The reversal was also brought about by a $8.28-billion scandal Read More

This year, the Business Summit – Everything Counts! was celebrated by the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with our local partners Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade, Clarington Board of Trade, and the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce. With the Business Summit, this year we also launched our free Business EXPO, that spot lighted amazing local Read More

The Province of Ontario released it’s “pre-budget” – “Ontario’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook in Brief”. In strengthening Ontario’s infrastructure and systems, the pre-budget details key Government commitments for the coming years. In its big commitment to infrastructure, the government is: Introducing the new arms-length, board-governed agency “Ontario Infrastructure Bank” (OIB), which will work to attract public-sector Read More

On October 17th WCC hosted its sixth annual TD Economic Update and again, Mr. Derek Burleton, Deputy Chief Economist at TD Bank, provided an informative presentation of the global and Canadian economies. Here are my (an economics laymen) takeaways from his presentation. General Trends The general consensus is that growth is expected to continue into Read More

On August 14th the Federal government announced policy changes that may likely impact and support your business. Most notably, having heard from countless business communities across Canada, including our Chamber, the government is extending the term loan repayment and grant qualification deadline under the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) program. Businesses that repay their loan Read More

Recently, on behalf of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce I attended a roundtable on Durham Region’s economic development with federal leaders Honourable Minister Filomena Tassi and our own MP Ryan Turnbull. Minister Tassi highlighted that fundamentals like affordable housing, transit, and healthcare are needed to prepare the groundwork for economic growth and healthy vibrant communities. Read More