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Scrap it and start over! RCC’s advice to the Ford Government to repeal Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (Bill 148, 2017)

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RCC is calling on the Ford Government to repeal Bill 148 and then proceed to address individual problems where necessary. This was the very advice that Retail Council of Canada provided, on behalf of its retailers, to the Changing Workplaces Review Panel in 2015 and again in 2016. Bottom line, our position from the get-go was never to support these changes!

Retail Council of Canada (RCC) Calling for Repeal of Ontario Bill 148
RE: Amendments to Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Labour Relations Act (LRA)

RCC is calling on the Ford Government to repeal Bill 148 and then proceed to address individual problems where necessary. This was the very advice that Retail Council of Canada provided, on behalf of its retailers, to the Changing Workplaces Review Panel in 2015 and again in 2016. Bottom line, our position from the get-go was never to support these changes!

Retailers told us that the changes to Ontario labour laws were ill-conceived and poorly drafted. In a nutshell, RCC and its members believe that many of Bill 148’s changes were harmful to business and to employment prospects for Ontarians. 

Rather than attempting to solve these many problems piece-by-piece, RCC believes that the best course of action would be to repeal Bill 148. Scrap it and start over!

Among the many issues affecting employment, Bill 148’s single biggest cost to businesses is, of course, the increase in minimum wage, which was raised 20.7% on January 1, 2018. With a further rise to $15/hour legislated for January 1, 2019, this would bring the increase to a whopping 29.3% over a 12-month period. 

RCC applauds the new Ontario government’s commitment to avert the increase to $15/hour on January 1, 2019.

Read RCC’s letter to the Ontario Minister of Labour CALLING FOR THE REPEAL OF BILL 148.

HR and Employee Support Solutions with Morneau Shepell

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Immediate and confidential support for any work, health or life concern

RCC has partnered with Morneau Shepell to help your business steer clear of employment pitfalls and expensive litigation with on-demand access to trusted human resource and legal professionals.

From how to handle inappropriate workplace conduct, employee performance issues or policy development, HR Support Solutions provides this specialized knowledge on- demand, allowing businesses to immediately address priority concerns, confidently manage complex HR processes, and make the right decisions for their business.

HR Support Solutions is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses that do not have dedicated HR professionals on staff that understand and manage human resources aspects of business and associated legal implications.

Program options and highlights

BUSINESS CARE     EMPLOYEE CARE      COMPLETE CARE

Morneau Shepell Member Benefit Program

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Morneau Shepell Group Benefits Program

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Affordable group benefits to protect and strengthen your employees

The difference between good benefits and great benefits is a big one. Great benefits retain employees and are tailored to your organization.

Retail Council of Canada, together with Morneau Shepell; offer RCC members an exclusive, cost-effective and truly valuable benefit program. Thanks to RCC’s strength in numbers, we can deliver a much more comprehensive and inexpensive alternative to individual insurance products, that understands the unique needs of your business and your people–from store front to distribution to home office. 

When you join the RCC group benefits program you:

Save on premiums – lower rates due to buying power and reduced administration costs

Save time – online tools for you means claims and enrollments are quick and easy

Have benefits expert on call – Morneau Shepell representatives are available for benefits advice, education and help with administration

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Get Started Today!

eShipper Courier Services

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With eShipper’s platform already designed to give our customers amazing savings on shipping, our RCC member rates are second-to-none and are only available to businesses like yours.

Here’s How Much You Can Save:

Book a Demo or Sign Up:

Want to see a quick quote before making up your mind? Click the button below:

Businesses like yours face many challenges today, including: poor customer service, lack of shipping options, lack of automation, and expensive shipping rates.

Check out our blog for business tips & cost saving hacks, and click the icon below to watch our video.

Want to chat? Call us at 1-877-373-9222 ext. 110 or email us at rccsales@eshipper.com

PUDO Pick Up Drop Off

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PUDO is North America’s first pick up drop off network that is changing the way consumers receive and return their online packages. Consumers now have the choice of where and when they want to pick up or drop off their online packages. PUDO provides your customers with additional delivery and return choices that will lead to increased sales and an improved customer experience.

How it Works:

1. Customers generate a return label either on your website or PUDO’s.
    
2. Customers drop off their return item at any PUDOpoint across Canada (Find the nearest PUDOpoint).
    
3. PUDO delivers the return item to your warehouse.
    
4. PUDO invoices you at your current courier cost less 30% for your RCC member discount!

As a valued RCC member, your exclusive benefits include:

√ 30% reduction on your shipping rate for e-commerce returns.  

√  Access to PUDO’s API (Application Programing Interface) that plugs into your checkout process, allowing your customers to select the PUDOpoint most convenient for them.

√  Cost savings by eliminating courier residential and re-delivery sur charges.

√  (When available) access to PUDO’s Global Shop and Ship program.

Register                   PDF Presentation

First of its kind study of shopping centres in Canada

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Retail Council of Canada is launching a high-profile study examining the Canadian shopping centre industry using a variety of metrics including productivity per square foot, size and traffic counts.

Flexible advertising and sponsorship opportunities are available to those seeking previously untapped exposure to retailers and other players in the Canadian retail industry. The study will be distributed Canada-wide to key retailers, including to almost 25,000 Retail Council of Canada email subscribers and 32,500 Canadian Retailer Magazine readers. The study will also be aggressively targeting the press to drive readership, providing thousands of additional qualified views to the study as it’s reported on locally and nationally.

The findings of this report will be of particular interest to heads of mid-to-large retailers, operations and store planners, marketers, merchandizers, and sales.

Download rate card
 

Textile waste is quickly emerging as an important issue for the retail sector.

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Textiles include apparel, footwear and accessories, bedding, linens and home décor as well as fabrics sold in bulk.

Why is it important?

• Public Policy  Issue
  The Council of Canadian Ministers of the Environment (CCME) has included textiles as part of the Phase 2 materials in its 2009 Canada-Wide Action Plan on Extended Producer Responsibility. As a result, British Columbia municipalities and Nova Scotia are considering either banning textiles from landfill or designating textiles under new stewardship programs.
   
• Reputational Risk
  In the past couple of years, media have put several retailers on the spot for “unsustainable” practices on the quantity of “fast fashion” items marketed and on handling unsold items.

For more information on implications to retailers, please contact:
Philippe Cantin
Manager, Environment
pcantin@cccd-rcc.org
514 316-8771

Toronto Parking Levy

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Municipal Parking Levy a Poor Choice for Revenue: Businesses and Jobs Threatened

October 13, 2016, TORONTO – The Commercial Real Estate Industry Coalition, a consortium of all of the major Toronto real estate associations, released a report today opposing a new parking levy on commercially-owned parking stalls in the City of Toronto, and describing why it would be a poor choice for financing the City’s budget deficit. The report explains 10 good reasons why it’s a bad idea.

A parking levy is a tax applicable to all parking spaces occupied or unoccupied, above or below ground, at a set daily rate. It is levied against the owner of the parking space. It is to be distinguished from a parking sales tax, which is added to the charged cost of parking for a specific parking space actually occupied by a vehicle.

A parking levy on parking spaces is a hidden tax, akin to another property tax, that will be paid by the property owners and their tenants. Ultimately, part of the increased costs will be borne by consumers, likely in the form of higher grocery bills, higher cost of goods sold in retail outlets, and higher rent recharges in office, retail and industrial properties, or lower incomes for business owners. As it will be hidden, it is not specifically anti-car, as drivers won’t see it.

Toronto is already a high cost city, both residentially and commercially, and adding more tax burden to businesses and properties in the city will just make the problem worse. At the highest rate proposed in the City’s KPMG report, the parking levy could amount to a de facto 44% commercial property tax increase on businesses in the City of Toronto. The resulting increased costs of doing business in the city would make relocating to 905 or elsewhere that much more attractive.

A parking levy actually works at cross purposes with the City’s stated goals of increasing transit infrastructure and ridership, to the extent it may force businesses back out to the suburbs. City residents with jobs in 905 are hardly going to use transit for the reverse commute. We have a hub and spoke transit network, designed to bring people to the core and back out, ill-suited to diffused jobs in the 905 (perhaps except for SmartTrack).

Experiences from Greater Vancouver’s attempt at a parking levy illustrates that the levy is administratively difficult to implement and causes a range of problems and distortions. While the parking levy has garnered attention due to its unrealistic revenue projections, it is important to note that the levy has failed each time it has been proposed in Canada. Mentions of a successful “parking tax” almost always refer to a sales tax on paid parking spaces.

Most importantly, it is not a tax that just gets absorbed by big business, with some deep pocketed entity easily able to afford the hit. City staff and Council may not understand that a parking levy is a charge that will flow through to tenants under typical retail, industrial, and office net leases. So it will be large and small businesses, including small retailers and family businesses that will be hit. As shown in the backgrounder to this release, that financial hit can be proportionately very large. It potentially diffuses through to all economic activity in the city, depending on where it is ultimately applied, and has serious economic repercussions.

“The retail and office sectors are likely to bear most of the increased cost from a parking levy.” Says Michael Brooks, CEO of REALPAC. “At a time when Toronto’s competitiveness significantly trails other Ontario regions, a parking levy, as it has been proposed, would be another unfair burden on Toronto’s business community—especially real estate. The city needs to become more affordable not less so.”

Overall, this report concludes that a parking space levy is a poor financing tool to help the City fund its operating or capital budget gap.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Brooks Barnett
Manager, Government Relations & Policy
REALPAC
bbarnett@realpac.ca
416-642-2700 x224

About the Commercial Real Estate Industry Coalition:
The Commercial Real Estate Industry Coalition is comprised of the Real Property Association of Canada (REALPAC), the Toronto Financial District BIA, the Building Owners and Managers Association Toronto (BOMA Toronto), NAIOP Greater Toronto, the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC), the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and the Retail Council of Canada (RCC).

Read more from The Toronto Star

The Art of Leadership will be in Toronto on October 21st, featuring six incredible thought leaders. RCC Members can save up to $100 per pass using promo code RCC20.

More information and sign up for event: http://info.theartof.com/lt16/RCC20

Metro Toronto Convention Centre
8:30 am – 5:00pm

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