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The provincial government has released its planned changes to labour regulations through the Open for Business Act, Bill 47. This bill is designed to make amendments to Bill 148. During the discussions around Bill 148 the Peterborough Chamber maintained the following position: That government should put in place:
The chart below, in part, from Wilson Vukelich LLP, details the rules in place before and during Bill 148 and then what is proposed under Bill 47. There are several pieces from Bill 148 that will not be changing including:
It is anticipated there will be opportunity for public comment on Bill 47 and as we learn more we will pass on the information on how to connect with government committee going over the bill. We will also be looking to our members for feedback around what's being changed in order to submit our recommendations. Download the Chart Details of Changed and Repealed Items:  Details of Unchanged Items:  Feedback can be sent to: [email protected]
 "Tourism is a vital sector for Ontario's economy. That's why we encouraged the new Ontario government to implement a strategic plan for the tourism sector. We're very pleased Minister Jones has announced that the government will be working with tourism stakeholders to create a new tourism strategy that'll lead to an even stronger tourism industry in Ontario." — Rocco Rossi, President and CEO, Ontario Chamber of Commerce Tourism is one of the key economic sectors for the City and County of Peterborough. The Tourism Industry Association of Canada provides business and jobs by riding. Within the three ridings that include Peterborough there are 1793 businesses and 17, 493 jobs in the tourism sector.
Earlier this year, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce using the policy resolutions of the Chamber Network provided the provincial government with a blueprint letter with recommendations on how to drive the tourism sector in Ontario. Five key priority areas were identified:
Consultations are expected to be held in late fall of this year. The government is seeking feedback on several areas impacting the tourism industry from the roles of government and industry to workforce and regulatory burden.  Congratulations to all… All who put their names on a ballot for office. All who volunteered on the campaigns. All who voted. All who participated in the most fundamentally important process there is, a democratic election.
This was a remarkable election on many levels. We have a remarkably more diverse Council in the City of Peterborough. We have a remarkably more efficient voting system, though not without a few hiccups. And I believe we have witnessed a remarkable shift in thinking. I’ve seen the word “progressive” tossed around during the campaign. I’m not sure that captures what was obviously an unsettled mood among municipal voters. But one thing is clear, Diane Therrien understood the mood, and was able to tap into it with her “Expect More” message, resulting in a remarkable landslide victory. Diane Therrien also campaigned on three fundamentals – Jobs, Taxes and Infrastructure, which nicely sets the table for the next four years, because when it comes down to it, this fresh new Council still has a City to run, and a balancing act to perform. Daryl Bennett and the two Councils that he led over the last 8 years also had to strike a balance, and both Daryl and the returning and retiring Councillors need to be commended for their work. It’s been said that every decision you make as a municipal councillor makes someone angry. Much has been made of the multiple 6-5 votes that occurred in the last four years, and perhaps therein lies some of the explanation for the unrest. Indeed, Council has been criticized on many occasions for “not listening to the people”. This sentiment was particularly ugly during the divisive debate on the sale of PDI. But I will never forget Councillor Henry Clark’s eloquent response to being accused of not listening to the people. To loosely quote Henry – “on the contrary I am listening to the people… the people who want us to sell PDI, and the people who don’t want us to sell it. I’m listening to the arguments of my fellow Counsellors. I’m listening to the reports of the consultants and staff, and I’m listening to my own heart as I weigh all of this input and make my decision. This is what I was elected to do.” This will not change in the next four years. There will be many divisive issues. Council will not always agree. But one thing is clear, each and every elected official, City and County will listen to their constituents, read the reports, weigh the options and decide on the future of Peterborough City and County. And toward the future is where we must turn our focus. Let’s work on tomorrow, not yesterday. For the Chamber, nothing changes. We try to cultivate a high level of mutual respect between the business community we represent and our elected leaders. Our positions on various issues are based on the positions of our members. We focus on policies that encourage a strong business community, and we communicate these policies to both City and County Councils. Our election platform, called “Building a Community Outside the Ordinary” had three foundational pillars: Strengthening Peterborough’s Competitiveness, Economic Growth and Job Creation
Building Whole Communities
Improving GovernmentAccountability
Our new leaders will have to deal with many issues, many pressures, and will face many big decisions, but opportunity abounds. The completion of the 407, the potential for VIA Rail service, Cleantech Commons at Trent, the Airport, and many more, will all create an opportunity for Councils to create the conditions for sustainable growth. We wish them well.  On October 23, the Government of Ontario announced Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018 which includes changes to Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, and improvements to Ontario’s apprenticeship system. These changes will help businesses in Peterborough continue to grow and reduce some of the regulatory burden added with the implementation of Bill 148. For the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, the new apprenticeship ratio regime and the winding down of the Ontario College of Trades are welcome. Over the past number of years we have consistently heard from our members how these two issues around the skilled trades are holding back business, particularly small business in urban/rural areas such as Peterborough. What's Changing in Skilled Trades ADVOCACY WIN: All Apprenticeship ratios will be 1:1
Ontario’s current journeyperson-to-apprenticeship ratios make it difficult for employers to fulfill high levels of demand for skilled tradespeople, as they struggle to recruit sufficient journeypersons to hire additional apprentices. This has resulted in young tradespeople struggling to work the hours necessary to complete their training, limiting the number of certified tradespeople produced each year. The government’s announcement to lower these ratios to 1:1 across all trades will make it easier for apprentices to become certified and for businesses to fill skills shortages and complete projects. This will be especially important for smaller urban and rural communities, where the pool of journeypersons is typically much smaller. The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce has been asking for this type of movement on apprenticeship ratios for a number of years. While we are still looking for more flexibility for our smaller urban/rural areas this is a positive start. Read our policy resolution. Dissolution of the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) Since its establishment in 2009, the OCOT has become overly focused on enforcement and regulation, limiting its ability to serve the public interest by attracting and training new tradespeople. The government has announced that it will be dissolving the OCOT and uploading its responsibilities to the Ministry of Labour, something that the Chamber Network advocated for in our Blueprint Letters to Cabinet Ministers. Dissolving the College is an important first step in modernizing Ontario’s apprenticeship system and developing a stronger, more competitive workforce. Moratorium on Trades Classification The Chamber Network is also in support of the government’s decision to place a moratorium on trades classification and re-classification, which will reduce hiring-related burdens and improve business competitiveness.  Advocacy at Work On October 23, the Government of Ontario announced Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018 which includes changes to Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, and improvements to Ontario’s apprenticeship system. These changes will help businesses in Peterborough continue to grow and reduce some of the regulatory burden added with the implementation of Bill 148. For the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, the new apprenticeship ratio regime and the winding down of the Ontario College of Trades are welcome. Over the past number of years we have consistently heard from our members how these two issues around the skilled trades are holding back business, particularly small business in urban/rural areas such as Peterborough. What's Changing with Bill 148 Minimum wage paused at $14 per hour
The dramatic increase in minimum wage mandated under Bill 148 was unprecedented in North America for both its amount and the speed by which it was to be implemented. Pausing the minimum wage at $14/hour and then tying future increases to a calculation based on the rate of inflation. This connection to inflation will start in 2020. This connection to an economic indicator has been what the Peterborough Chamber has continued to advocate for as it will ensure consistency, reliability, and predictability for both employers and employees. Amended personal emergency leave Under Bill 148, small businesses were required to provide a minimum of 10 personal emergency leave days per year (eight unpaid and two paid). This will be amended to require a total of eight unpaid days within the following categories: three sick days, two bereavement days, and three family emergency leave days. To help promote accountability, employers may now once again ask employees for a sick note. These changes will help small businesses manage schedules and reduce unexpected costs, helping them remain competitive. Partial repeal of scheduling provisions Bill 148 allowed employees to refuse a shift scheduled less than 96 hours before its start and required employers to pay staff for a minimum of three hours of work in the case of a cancelled/reduced shift. These provisions made it difficult and more expensive for businesses to properly staff operations, especially for industries that rely more heavily on casual work or are exposed to factors outside their control, such as the weather events or fluctuations in consumer demand. The government will be repealing the 96-hour rule, while adjusting the 3-hour rule. This will reduce some of the uncertainty and cost pressures on employers. Where an employee who regularly works more than three hours a day is required to report to work, but works less than three hours, the employee would be paid for three hours. There is still some concern that the three hour rule will remain particularly harmful for businesses in the agriculture, tourism, and restaurant industries that frequently face circumstances beyond their control and require the flexibility to schedule, cancel or reduce shift hours with short notice. Removal of equal pay for equal work Implementation was particularly challenging and costly for small businesses, with fewer resources and broader job descriptions. Requiring employers to provide equal pay to part-time and full-time employees, as well as temporary help agency employees, who perform substantially the same job added significant administrative and salary costs to businesses. Removing the equal pay provision will increase flexibility for Ontario employers. Returning to previous calculation of public holiday pay Returning to the previous public holiday pay formula will ensure fair compensation for all workers and allow businesses to make economically sound hiring decisions. Bill 148 changed the formula for calculating public holiday pay, requiring employers to divide regular wages earned in the pay period before the public holiday by the number of days worked in that pay period. In practice, this made it more expensive for employers to hire causal, part-time workers and created a system that did not provide fair compensation to full-time staff. Maintain domestic or sexual violence leave Bill 148 introduced a domestic or sexual violence leave provision. The OCC and Peterborough Chamber supports this policy, which gives employees the right to up to 10 days of individual leave and up to 15 weeks of leave if the employee or their child experiences domestic or sexual violence or the threat of such violence. Maintain paid vacation expansion The government will not be removing provisions that entitle employees to three weeks of paid vacation after five years with the same employer. This is good as the Peterborough Chamber was hearing that many employers did not plan to reduce their employees’ vacation time regardless of legislative change.
This is Small Business Week. We are celebrating the small businesses in our community. The definition of small business is 100 employees or less which captures a lot of the workforce in Peterborough. The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce has almost 900 members and 93% of them are in this category. Recently, we celebrated over 50 businesses at the Peterborough Business Excellence Awards night. The videos profiling all finalists are available on YouTube and are a shining example of the great work and workplaces we have in Peterborough. Check them out and learn more about the businesses in our community. Often the most telling part of that evening is the comments from the recipients. The first people to be thanked are usually the team and it goes without saying that the work team is crucial. However, we’d like to broaden the thank you to the owners and franchise owners and say thank you for taking the risk. Thank you for making the conscious decision to give back to your community in the form of employment opportunities and sponsorship of community events, sports teams, the arts and so much more. Often, and as is the case with the current municipal election, the creation of jobs is a topic that receives a lot of attention. So, we feel it’s worth understanding what it takes to create a job… As Chamber President and CEO Stuart Harrison explains: “Simply having an employee in the building costs roughly 50% more than that employee’s salary. There is the cost of the building, the utilities to run it, the multiple taxes, the cost of regulation compliance (let alone the fees for the privilege of complying), and this doesn’t even scratch the surface. Most small businesses operate on a profit margin of 10% or less. This means that for every dollar that goes into the cash register it costs the owner 90 cents. That leftover dime is typically sunk back into the business for expansion, new equipment, building improvements, new employees, etc.” “This is above and beyond any government legislated cost increases such as when hydro rates go through the roof, and when wages get a legislated increase,” adds Harrison. “It leaves a business owner with very few options, and only 10 cents to solve the problem.” All this to say that, unless you’ve sat in the chair of a small business owner and faced the responsibility of mounting expenses, take a moment before judging. We need our small businesses to thrive and be successful and to have an environment in which there are fewer barriers, so that they can create more jobs and have more opportunities to give back. The strength of the community is reflected in the strength of the business community. We’re stronger together.  Over the next three columns is the statement from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) on the USMCA (United States Mexico Canada Agreement).
The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce is proud to be a member of the national Chamber network as it continually offers perspective to be applied here in the City and County. We know there will be impact from this deal as we have dairy farmers, manufacturers and retailers that all had their eye on what was going to happen with a renewed NAFTA. We also know that this is one of many international trade deals to be renewed or developed in the past number of years and while the others (CETA and CPTPP) will open doors for Canadian products the USMCA is particularly important because of, among other things, proximity. Members, we are compiling a series of links to the document on our website peterboroughchamber.ca. As we learn more ahead of ratification and build lived experience with the deal after ratification, please stay connected with us. We’re here to advocate on your behalf. [email protected] Statement from the CCC “The Chamber is delighted to learn of a deal in principle for a renewed NAFTA. This step forward comes as a relief for our members who have been searching for much-needed clarity and predictability in the relationship with our NAFTA partners. As with any trade agreement of this breadth and scope, the Chamber will want to carefully review the details before making a final assessment. Specifically, we will seek clarity on how the agreement addresses the existing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium, as well as how it will ensure that tariffs and quotas upon Canada’s auto sector exports will be avoided. The Chamber’s members will also look closely at how the agreement treats specific sectors, including dairy and government procurement, and how IP will be dealt with across several industries. Our retail members will also want to evaluate the impacts of any changes to the de minimis level on their domestic sales. While we applaud the achievement of an agreement, Canada must remember the lesson this turbulent period has provided: we must never again allow ourselves to be overly-dependent upon one trading partner. We must continue to diversify our markets to protect ourselves from capricious and unfair actions in the future. Additionally, we urgently need to boost Canada’s competitiveness. Our members, Canadian businesses from all sectors across the country, continue to be woefully disadvantaged compared to our international peers. For Canada to prosper as a trading nation, we must overhaul our regulatory and taxation frameworks, which are suffocating the ability of our businesses to innovate, to compete for talent on the global stage, to deliver nation-building projects, and to attract foreign investment. We must also redouble our efforts to dismantle the remaining barriers to internal trade and mobility. The Chamber congratulates Minister Freeland and Canada’s negotiating team for delivering an agreement that remains trilateral and that will continue to deliver prosperity for Canada, and for doing so under extraordinarily challenging conditions. For now, the 200,000 businesses that comprise the Chamber’s network can breathe a little easier and return their focus to where it should be: serving their customers and providing jobs for their employees. The Chamber will continue to advocate on their behalf so that, together, we can build a Canada that wins."  The City and County of Peterborough are exceptional places to build a business, raise a family, and enjoy all Mother Nature has to offer. In the past several months Peterborough has been recognized as 2nd best for real estate investment and one of the friendliest communities.
The Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce represents approximately 900 businesses in the city and county employing about 25,000 people. Our mission is to be a leader in advocacy, networking and education for our members and community at large. We also act as a catalyst to enhance business growth and opportunity, innovation, partnerships and a diverse business community. The start of a new term of council is an opportunity for reflection as well as a time to set goals for the next four years. Recently, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce released the ‘Building a Community Outside the Ordinary’ platform for the upcoming municipal election. The platform outlines three pillars of a strong, resilient community and includes ten recommended actions that are needed to support the development of opportunities for everyone in the City and County of Peterborough. The ‘Building a Community Outside the Ordinary’ platform has been developed through consultation with Chamber member businesses who identified several factors that are limiting our ability to provide opportunity for our citizens. To become a city and county for everyone, we need our candidates and the next council to support a “culture of forward and full circle thinking”. The ‘Building a Community Outside the Ordinary’ platform calls for: Strengthening Peterborough’s Competitiveness, Economic Growth and Job Creation Through commitments to:
Building Whole Communities Through commitments to:
Improving Government Accountability Through commitments to:
“We are asking all candidates for City and County Councils to endorse our ‘Building a Community Outside the Ordinary’ platform,” says Stuart Harrison, President & CEO, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. “We believe that by adopting the pillars of strengthening Peterborough’s competitiveness, economic growth and job creation, building whole communities, and improving government accountability, our next Councils can build a community outside the ordinary for everyone.” All said, there is interconnectedness between the themes and recommendations of this platform and all citizens in our community. Action on these recommendations helps us all. We are all in this together. Learn more about the 2018 Municipal Election |
AuthorThe Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce acts as a catalyst to enhance business growth, opportunity, innovation, partnerships and a diverse business community. Archives
September 2024
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