Chamber Updates & Local News

“One Stop Talk” program connects youth to mental health counselling by phone, video, text and chat The Ontario government is investing $4.75 million to expand the “One Stop Talk” virtual “walk-in” counselling program to connect children, youth and their families with more convenient and timely ways to access mental health counselling no matter where they live.…

Government’s investments supporting economic growth, protecting jobs and building infrastructure in rural communities The Ontario government is working with its rural municipal partners to build housing, encourage economic growth and development, reduce red tape, strengthen the agri-food sector and promote rural municipalities as great places to live, work and do business. “Our government has a…

Changes will automatically recognize the credentials of health care workers registered in other provinces and territories The government will introduce legislative changes in February 2023 that, if passed, will allow Canadian health care workers that are already registered or licensed in another Canadian jurisdiction to practice in Ontario immediately, without having to first register with…

Business Data Lab highlights that in Q1 2023, businesses expect sales to shrink, price increases to slow as well as increased expenses. You can read the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab’s full report with key findings from the Q4 2022 Canadian Survey on Business Conditions to get all the details heading into 2023…

The Ontario government is making it easier and faster for people to access the publicly-funded surgeries and procedures they need by further leveraging community surgical and diagnostic centres to eliminate surgical backlogs and reduce wait times Community surgical and diagnostic centres have been valuable partners in responding to the pandemic and addressing the pandemic-related backlog…

Modern supply chains help ensure the rapid, efficient movement of goods and services and are indispensable to economic growth. Unfortunately, the impacts of the pandemic revealed long-standing vulnerabilities across the global supply chain network. The overarching challenge remains in identifying and understanding the prevailing pain points throughout the network and applying innovative mitigation strategies that…

Thanks to all who joined us at our State of the City, and a special thanks to our title sponsor Bell Canada, and partner sponsors RBC and St. Lawrence College. I’m Karen Cross, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce. I’m pleased to welcome you to our 2023 State of the City…

In the post-pandemic world, leaders must put their stamp on issues beyond the bottom line Years ago, Canadian management guru Henry Mintzberg was asked to identify the most important quality of great leaders. The notorious iconoclast impishly replied that he had compiled a list of 52 leadership qualities and that he considered all of them the most important. Read more

Changes to Impact Business and IT Consultants Effective January 1, 2023, the Employment Standards Act (ESA) will no longer apply to employees who are defined in the ESA as business consultants or information technology consultants, providing they meet specified criteria outlined in the Working for Workers Act. More information about the change will soon be…

Life-saving kits required to be on hand in at-risk workplaces by June 1, 2023 The Ontario government is launching a first-of-its-kind program to make free naloxone kits (and free training) available at workplaces where there is a risk of staff witnessing or experiencing an opioid overdose. Read more