Business meetings mean business

Conference season is in full swing; the City of St. John’s is looking forward to a steady stream of conferences, trade shows, meetings, and business delegation visits.

With backdrops like these, who needs a power point?

The Rooms, Photo credit: Destination Canada

From mid-May to mid-July the world is coming to the city to attend strategic scientific, research and industry conferences where our ocean technology, sciences and energy related sectors will be fully engaged.

As Canada’s Ocean City Powerhouse there is no better place to host these types of conferences. Inspiring study tour destinations, access to thought-provoking speakers and experts, and business to business opportunities advance industry growth. On top of that, when you host your event in our exceptional city of living history, urban energy, and natural splendour, you treat your delegates to a great meeting experience!

Delegate spending makes a significant contribution to the city’s tourism sector by injecting new money into the local economy. 2023 marked a full return to in-person business events including meetings, conventions, and incentive travel. Destination St. John’s reports these business events brought 20,900 delegates to the city, accounting for 33,000 room nights in St. John’s last year. This is above the 19,000 delegates recorded in 2022.

Beyond the delegate spend, the business connections, opportunities to showcase and leverage local expertise and market to national and international audiences increases the potential for long term business development.

A sampling of business events happening this spring:

Community Event Space - Downtown Pedestrian Mall 2024

The City of St. John's is providing free space on the Downtown Pedestrian Mall this year for organizations to raise awareness about their activities and initiatives while building community engagement. Please fill out the application form and share with us how you would like to enhance the Downtown Pedestrian Mall. Ensure you review the important considerations and requirements within the form before submitting. Questions can be referred to specialevents@stjohns.ca.  Space is limited.

Housing affordability pressure is lighter in St. John’s

Housing affordability pressure is lighter in St. John’s compared to other cities in Canada according to RBC’s aggregate affordability measure, at 28.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 (the lowest of cities covered in the report). The report states, “the St. John’s residential market remains much busier than at almost any time before 2020 with the current upward sloping price trend persisting in the period ahead”.

The RBC Housing Affordability Measures show the proportion of median pre-tax household income that would be required to cover mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes, and utilities based on the benchmark market price for single family, detached homes, and condo apartments, as well as for an overall aggregate of all housing types in a given market. The higher the measure, the less affordable owning home is.

• St. John’s 28.7%
• Halifax 45.5%
• Montreal 53.3%
• Ottawa 49.9%
• Calgary 48.3%
• Canada 63.5%

NLCU Supporting Small Businesses to Achieve Net-zero Targets  

The Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union (NLCU) is offering working capital term loans to help businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador achieve energy efficiency and their net-zero targets. These loans provide as much as $250,000 capital towards energy efficiency, net-zero target and growth initiatives. The purpose of these loans is to help businesses start property improvements, net-zero and/or growth initiatives sooner (i.e.- without having to wait to save up the capital prior to starting) thus getting the benefits sooner. To keep the monthly payment to a minimum and reduce the impact on monthly cash flows these loans will have longer than normal amortization periods - businesses could have up to 10 years to pay back these loans.  For further information contact Chantal Welsh. 

St. John’s Board of Trade and NL Employers’ Council Announce Wage Support Program

The St. John's Board of Trade, in partnership with the NL Employers' Council, has announced a new funding program for small and medium businesses across the province. Businesses across the province with fewer than 100 employees and that had more than one employee paid at the minimum wage rate between April 1st, 2023 and March 31st, 2024, will be eligible to receive a one-time payment of $2,500 to $5,000 through the Newfoundland and Labrador Wage Support Program. Eligibility requirements and the application form are available at NLWageSupport.com. The program will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis.

St. John’s is consistently listed among the most affordable places to purchase a home in Canada, offering many advantages with a balanced lifestyle and a welcoming community.

Check out this article by the financial website Savvy-New Canadians’

https://loom.ly/wrAct9Y

The City of St. John's economic development team is looking forward to exhibiting at the St. John's Board of Trade Business Bootcamp at the Delta Hotel May 13 & 14. #AdvantageStJohns

Congrats to all recipients of the Applause awards! Your contribution adds to quality of life in St. John's and helps make the city a place where people want to live, work, study & play. www.stjohns.ca

Investment in residential building construction edged up in six provinces for February 2024, led by Newfoundland and Labrador (+$16 million to $78 million). Statistics Canada

The next Genesis Evolution cohort is currently looking for people with great tech business ideas that solve a real world problem. Why not take your entrepreneurial dreams to the next level Applications due May 17: https://hubz.li/Q02tm-G50

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