The Greater Sudbury area is receiving an $11-million boost from the provincial government, whose Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation is helping fund 20 local projects.
The funds aim “to support and build our businesses and build our communities,” Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford told a Sudbury crowd on Monday evening.
“We are building strong, vibrant communities and creating real opportunities for the people who live here, for the people who work here and study in the north.”
Included in the list of funding recipients are a number of film projects, including a project called “Umbrella Chronicles,” which is receiving $2 million.
Although no details are provided, “The Umbrella Chronicles” is a Resident Evil video game, and the 2021 movie, “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,” was filmed in Sudbury. The production company behind the “Umbrella Chronicles” movie is Raccoon HG Film Productions, which was behind the Sudbury-filmed Resident Evil movie.
Get’er Done Productions is receiving $1 million to produce the television series Letterkenny, which has been filmed in the Greater Sudbury area for the past several years, with other film-related funding going toward:
$500,000 for Circle Blue Films to produce, in Sudbury, the film “Cafe Daughter,” as well as $500,000 to produce, in Sudbury, the film “Orah”
$43,416 for Sudbury artist Kenny Wilson to produce an animated television series called “Rabbit Girl”
Following Monday’s announcement, city Tourism and Culture manager Lara Fielding told Sudbury.com funding such as this is responsible for “drawing in and sustaining” local film productions.
Local filming is “picking up,” she said, adding that there are approximately eight films slated to be filmed in Greater Sudbury so far this year, but that more could come up in the coming months. The second season of Shoresy is currently being filmed in Greater Sudbury.
The funding offers “a great opportunity for productions that are doing well, but also for new producers and writers to get a jump on money to their projects forward,” Fielding said.
Another big recipient of funds was the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT), which hosted Rickford’s speech. They’re receiving $1.3 million toward the purchase of a battery-electric vehicle and to upgrade the centre to accommodate the new vehicle.
The funds will go toward the purchase of a load haul dump, or a scooptram vehicle, which will be used to train miners in real-life underground mining scenarios.
“Given the migration towards electrification of both underground and surface mines, there is a need for hands-on experience or training for that,” NORCAT CEO Don Duval told Sudbury.com.
“We want to ensure that our hands-on experiential training aligns to training on equipment that is representative of the industry.”
Various ancillary technology will accompany the piece of equipment, which students will also be familiarized with.
“The migration towards electrification is happening, it’s well underway, and it’s only going to get faster,” Duval said. “I think you’re gonna continue to see an expedited adoption of electric vehicles in the mining companies.”
With the Greater Sudbury area “blessed with a huge potential for critical minerals,” he said it’s “an exciting time to be in the mining industry in Ontario and Canada.”
NORCAT has yet to select a preferred vendor for the electric scooptram vehicle, so he said they don’t know yet how much it will end up costing.
The balance of the $11-million in provincial funding announced for the Greater Sudbury area includes:
$2 million for Cambrian College to build a “state-of-the-art research and development facility” at its Barrydowne Campus in Sudbury.
$728,433 for a numbered company (1929995 Ontario Inc.) to develop Plowbrush, a snowplowing system that reduces the amount of salt needed to clear roadways.
$400,000 for Amen Holdings and Consolidated Logistics, both in Sudbury, to purchase equipment and install additional railway track at their track facility
$400,000 for Barrydowne Animal Hospital in Sudbury to purchase a building,relocate, renovate and buy equipment
$391,785 for A&M Remediation – an industrial waste management company in Sudbury – to purchase equipment
$255,000 for Top Steel – a manufacturing and design firm in Val Caron – to purchase equipment
$250,000 for Rock-Tech – a mining equipment manufacturer in Lively – to develop an automated rockbreaker
$250,000 for Sofvie Inc. – a health and safety software company in Lively – to develop an industrial grade safety device worn as a sleeve
$222,150 for Sparrow Health – a medical technology business in Sudbury – to develop an online portal enabling patients to request prescription refills and for their physicians to process requests
$158,538 to establish, in Val Caron, Rees Rail Services – a service contractor for the rail industry – and $400,000 for the company to purchase equipment
$104,140 for Chenier Drilling Services – a drilling services provider in Val Caron for the mining and mineral exploration industries – to purchase equipment
$79,936 for Bio-Mine Ltd. – a clean technology company in Sudbury – to develop a microbial system to be used for the degradation of plastic waste
$58,290 for FlashTheSloth Technology Inc. – a high-tech delivery service provider in Sudbury – to purchase equipment and software
In a media release issued by the province, Top Steel general manager Savy Bhardwaj credited the funds with helping them hire two people and purchase new machinery so they can produce products in Northern Ontario rather than outsourcing to third-party producers in the south.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
