Economy

Montreal injects $400K to draw shoppers downtown, stimulate economy – CBC.ca

Published

4 years ago

July 21, 2020

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says the city will invest $400,000 into “developing and animating” its downtown sector, as part of a $22-million plan to relaunch Montreal’s economy, hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Downtown Montreal has been hit especially hard, since many offices have shifted to remote work, and there are few international tourists and no big festivals this summer.

“Because of confinement measures, the downtown is deserted by workers and students and tourists,” Plante said. “It’s a reality we have to deal with.”

The plan is to temporarily reorganize public space in the downtown area this summer, making it more appealing to Montreal shoppers and stimulating the local economy. There will also be pop-up art installations and “surprise” music and dance performances throughout the summer.

Plante said the city is in discussions with the federal and provincial governments to get more funding to help downtown businesses survive.

Montreal is hoping to draw people to its downtown sector while encouraging physical distancing and discouraging group gatherings.

Starting Tuesday, reorganized public spaces will be set up in the area bounded by Atwater Street and Papineau Avenue, Sherbrooke Street and the St. Lawrence River.

Seven large outdoor terrasses and public squares will be available to the public starting July 31. More than 150 artists will set up various types of art installations, music, dance and other spontaneous performances at the locations.

These terrasses will be set up at the Jardins du Centre St-Jax, at Place d’Youville, at the corner of Saint-Laurent and René-Lévesque boulevards, at Place des Festivals in the Quartier des spectacles, as well as at Les Jardins Gamelin.

The plan was developed in collaboration with Montreal’s chamber of commerce, Tourisme Montréal and the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership.

‘Downtown is suffering’

Unlike more residential neighbourhoods where people are shopping locally, downtown relies on people working in the vicinity or students, many of whom have left the city for the summer.

Michel Leblanc, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, said that fewer than five per cent of office workers have returned to the downtown area.

“Montreal is suffering. Downtown is suffering,” Leblanc said.

On top of that, many of the millions of tourists who visit Montreal every year are staying away.

In 2018, 11 million tourists visited Montreal, generating $4.5 billion in economic spinoffs.

“We have one million tourists this year,” said Yves Lalumière, president of Tourisme Montréal. “Ninety per cent of revenues have disappeared.”

He urged Montrealers to take advantage of the downtown area now that there are “practically no tourists.”

That also means there is now plenty of space to park downtown. Plante announced 1,000 discount parking spaces at the Complexe Desjardins and Palais des congrès, and encouraged Montrealers to take the metro or cycle downtown as well.

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Economy

Minimum wage to hire higher-paid temporary foreign workers set to increase

Published

3 days ago

October 21, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The federal government is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream as a way to encourage employers to hire more Canadian staff.

Under the current program’s high-wage labour market impact assessment (LMIA) stream, an employer must pay at least the median income in their province to qualify for a permit. A government official, who The Canadian Press is not naming because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the change, said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault will announce Tuesday that the threshold will increase to 20 per cent above the provincial median hourly wage.

The change is scheduled to come into force on Nov. 8.

As with previous changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the government’s goal is to encourage employers to hire more Canadian workers. The Liberal government has faced criticism for increasing the number of temporary residents allowed into Canada, which many have linked to housing shortages and a higher cost of living.

The program has also come under fire for allegations of mistreatment of workers.

A LMIA is required for an employer to hire a temporary foreign worker, and is used to demonstrate there aren’t enough Canadian workers to fill the positions they are filling.

In Ontario, the median hourly wage is $28.39 for the high-wage bracket, so once the change takes effect an employer will need to pay at least $34.07 per hour.

The government official estimates this change will affect up to 34,000 workers under the LMIA high-wage stream. Existing work permits will not be affected, but the official said the planned change will affect their renewals.

According to public data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 183,820 temporary foreign worker permits became effective in 2023. That was up from 98,025 in 2019 — an 88 per cent increase.

The upcoming change is the latest in a series of moves to tighten eligibility rules in order to limit temporary residents, including international students and foreign workers. Those changes include imposing caps on the percentage of low-wage foreign workers in some sectors and ending permits in metropolitan areas with high unemployment rates.

Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector are not affected by past rule changes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees

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Economy

PBO projects deficit exceeded Liberals’ $40B pledge, economy to rebound in 2025

Published

7 days ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.

However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.

The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.

The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.

The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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Economy

Statistics Canada says levels of food insecurity rose in 2022

Published

1 week ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.

In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.

The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.

Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.

In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.

It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.

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