“Just hire domestically.” It’s the standard retort to anyone suggesting recent federal immigration shifts are placing unprecedented strain on workers and employers alike. At the Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT), our members tell us clearly that the local labour pool needed to meet operational demands simply isn’t there. Yet skeptics like Mike Moffatt and Cara Stern feel that labour shortages are overstated. Who has it right? ...
Read MoreWhen most people think about child care, they frame it through a strictly personal lens. At best, it’s viewed as a necessary expenditure to keep a career going—a sunk cost that families must absorb on their own. And unless you have a young child, it’s an issue that rarely polls as a top priority. I recently made a video about why we need immigration to build our workforce....
Read MoreIn conversations with Brampton businesses across manufacturing, logistics, development, hospitality, healthcare, and technology, one concern continues to come up again and again: “We can’t find the people we need to grow.” Much attention has rightly been paid to tariffs, trade uncertainty, and geopolitical instability as those pressures on businesses matter. But workforce availability is different....
Read MoreThe Ontario Government recently released its 2026 Budget, “A Plan to Protect Ontario, citing the priority of building a resilient and self-reliant economy in the province. The Brampton Board of Trade was pleased to take part in pre-budget consultations to advocate on behalf of our community and applauds the government’s aggressive measures to shield the provincial economy from global trade volatility and lower the cost of doing business....
Read MoreOntario’s $6.4 billion post-secondary funding package signals a major shift in education policy, lifting the tuition freeze and expanding in-demand seats. But sweeping changes to OSAP, including reduced grants and higher reliance on loans, raise deeper questions about affordability, productivity, and the long-term civic and economic costs of narrowing access to higher education....
Read MoreThe 2026 municipal budgets in Brampton and Vaughan tell two very different stories about growth, risk, and fiscal strategy. On the surface, both cities are touting restraint. Vaughan is proposing a 0% property tax increase on their portion of the tax bill. Brampton has also adopted a 0% increase on their portion, notwithstanding the dedicated 1% levy increase for a second hospital. But beneath those headlines lie fundamentally different assumptions...
Read MorePrime Minister Mark Carney’s recent speech is the clearest acknowledgements yet from a senior Canadian figure that the post–Cold War world is over. Not fading, not evolving, but ruptured. In his speech at The World Economic Forum in Davos, the Prime Minister rejects the comforting language of “transition” and instead describes a global system that has broken under the weight...
Read MoreCouncil released Brampton’s 2026 budget late last week and began celebrating a headline figure: a 1.5% increase in the City’s portion of the property tax bill. We’re told this is among the lowest in the GTHA and below inflation, which is hovering around 2%. On its face, that sounds like a remarkable achievement, especially at a time when municipalities across Ontario are grappling with cost...
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