800 pink slips Guelph auto parts maker struggles to deal with lower orders
Linamar Corp., Canada`s second-biggest auto parts maker, has laid off about 800 employees -- about 4% of its total workforce -- as it struggles to deal with lower orders from the automotive and building trades industries.
Between 400 and 500 workers were informed yesterday they were being laid off, Linamar spokeswoman Crystal Roberts said. "We also have approximately 200 to 300 that were previously on layoff," she said, adding those layoffs are being extended.
Hot spots Toronto has up-and-coming areas in every direction
Watching Toronto expand and develop over the past couple of decades has been fascinating. While established neighbourhoods such as Forest Hill, Rosedale, Lawrence Park and the Bridle Path will always hold residential appeal (and very high property values), the housing boom caused by low interest rates and the influx of new Canadians has caused unprecedented demand for affordable housing in former industrial areas. Just look at the changes in the Fort York and King Street West areas, where a huge resurgence in popularity has transformed these former industrial sites into desirable residential hubs, causing prices to rise dramatically.
What`s happening TO condo market returns to `normal`
The Toronto condominium market remains solid despite the U.S. housing crisis, according to a report released last week by condo market research firm Urbanation. At the end of the second quarter of 2008 Toronto`s condo market returned to a more historically "normal" level of activity after the 2007 boom, according to the report. Although supply-and-demand indicators still point to a so-called seller`s market, both pricing and sales in 2008 have slowed to what Urbanation calls a "more sustainable level" from last year`s record pace.
Oshawa - Hundreds of Oshawa university students could find themselves with nowhere to live following a court decision that the houses they are renting are illegal.
In a ruling handed down Wednesday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Peter Howden found 28 homes are being operated as commercial lodging houses in a neighbourhood zoned for single-family use.
The decision means the landlords "have to stop using them as lodging houses and the students will have to find alternate accommodation," said Jonathan Lisus, lawyer for Tribute Communities, which built the houses, and Windfields Farm, which owns the land in the north-end subdivision.
University`s request for cash could be met with compromise
Niagara Region is considering giving $2 million to Brock University for a massive new health and bioscience research complex.
Brock president Jack Lightstone asked regional council in February for between $3 million and $5 million for the planned $90-million, 16,700- square-foot complex.
Regional staff suggested Thursday a $2-million compromise, paid over 25 years.
The university was "probably looking for something more," conceded Mike Trojan, regional chief administrative officer.
Barrie - The Innisfil Recreational complex is behind schedule, but should come in within or under budget, meaning the largest capital project in the history of Innisfil will soon be completed. The $32-million facility, located at Innisfil Beach Road and Yonge Street near the new town hall, should be completed some time early this fall after construction delays due to poor weather and labour disputes.
Gary Stanhope, of MHPM Project Management, which is overseeing the construction, provided town councillors with an update during last week`s meeting.
Windsor - Plant closures, store vacancies and decreasing property values are expected cut the city`s tax revenue by up to $7 million next year, a city finance report going to council Tuesday says.
The dwindling revenues, combined with spending hikes -- including $5.5 million in salary increases and an extra $2 million for rising fuel costs -- has the city`s number crunchers facing a huge challenge to mitigate the impact on taxpayers for the 2009 budget, said Tony Ardovini, the city`s deputy treasurer.
Chalk River could never satisfy global isotope market
OTTAWA - It is impossible for the Chalk River nuclear reactor to meet the global demand of medical isotopes, even as it ramps up production following warnings of a worldwide shortage, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. says.
Dale Coffin, a spokesman for the Crown corporation, which owns the reactor, said yesterday the facility will increase its production of medical isotopes following the closing of the reactor in Belgium this week, but there is no way the plant could supply the entire world`s isotope`s needs.
The public will get to see details of the proposed $90-million cleanup of toxic tar deposits on Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour sometime in November.
Roger Santiago of Environment Canada says a meeting that month will be the last opportunity for public input before an environmental assessment report is submitted to the federal minister in January.
If the assessment is approved next spring, as hoped, tenders could be called and construction started late next year or early in 2010.
Watershed planners are expanding the Chilligo Conservation Area in Hespeler by 19 hectares.
The added land beside Hespeler Road is vacant and mostly on the flood plain. The Grand River Conservation Authority voted this month to buy it from the Ministry of Transportation for $56,500.
Chilligo will grow 63 per cent, gaining 19 hectares or 47 acres, for a total area of 49 hectares (121 acres).
A growing population and rising demand for educated workers -- the factors behind Conestoga College`s major expansion in Cambridge -- are also driving the school`s desire for a second campus in Guelph, says the school`s president.
Conestoga hopes for approval in the next few years to build a second campus in Guelph, college president John Tibbits said.
Provincial funding announced this month will allow Conestoga to build a new campus in Cambridge, across Highway 401 from the college`s main campus in Kitchener.
PICKERING -- A small road shift in a future development has one property owner concerned in a big way. The Brookdale Centre was the subject of a major debate last year but Council ended up giving the commercial development the green light in hopes of improving Pickering`s downtown. But it was back up for discussion at a recent planning information meeting regarding a decision by Council in July, when it passed a resolution that a road originally planned to go completely on Brookdale lands will now be split equally between it and Pentans Development Limited, which leases to a number of car-related businesses in the area. Brookdale will face Kingston Road, roughly between Dixie and Liverpool roads and north of Hwy. 401, and is north of Pentans,
John St. could well be one of Toronto`s best-kept secrets – except that it`s no longer a secret. Indeed, north of Queen St., it`s now becoming the main drag of a thriving downtown neighbourhood. Of course, there`s still a big commercial element; one need look no farther than the fabulous pink Umbra outlet, a design store that puts its money where its mouth is in a most un-Toronto-like manner.
Provincial infrastructure funds welcome sign for homebuyers
Would-be new homebuyers could be forgiven for not connecting the dots between the pending federal election, the most recent infrastructure announcement by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and the price of new homes. The Premier managed to connect the first two dots very directly this week and the third dot gets connected through municipal development charges.
The courts are cracking down hard on London landlords who don`t keep their buildings safe from fire.
London Deputy Fire Chief Dan Oldridge says he hopes courts will get even tougher after the owners of six rental buildings faced fines totalling more than $18,000 for fire code violations in the last few months. That`s an average of $1,000 for each violation -- double the fines levied last year.
One lane of the Eramosa Road bridge was open to traffic yesterday, three weeks ahead of schedule.
The bridge reconstruction, which involved replacement of the deteriorating bridge deck, was expected to continue well into September.
Andrew Janes, the city`s project engineer supervisor, said the project was originally a 50-day contract. The bridge had been closed to traffic since mid-July.
