Community concern over college cuts
Algonquin College’s Perth campus is up for sale, with Algonquin seeking to exit the town by the end of August 2026. According to a listing with the property’s broker, CBRE, the campus comprises five buildings totalling just over 42,000 square feet on a 12.34-acre site. The college plans to recoup cash through the sale to help address budget deficits. No price tag has been listed by CBRE.
At a town council meeting earlier this year, a local group called Save Our College, led by former Shopify COO Toby Shannan, called on the provincial government to halt the sale so the campus can be transformed into a non-profit centre for skilled trades.
Meanwhile, a report prepared by StrategyCorp for St. Lawrence College recommended closing that college’s Brockville and Cornwall campuses if the college doesn’t receive more provincial support. In a response provided to OBJ, St. Lawrence president Glenn Vollebregt reaffirmed his institution’s commitment to the two communities.
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VIA Rail express plans on hold
VIA Rail has temporarily backed away from a pilot project that would have seen its express routes bypass eastern Ontario.
In mid-September, VIA announced that its express trains travelling between Montreal and Ottawa would bypass all of eastern Ontario, aside from Ottawa. The plan would save up to 40 minutes per trip, according to a news release from VIA.
According to VIA, CN Rail, the owner of the rail lines, couldn’t accommodate the revised schedule.
In a statement, VIA said it will work closely with CN to bring the faster service back in future and noted that the downtown-to-downtown service was requested by 70 per cent of passengers.
Chemtech companies spark a reaction in Kingston
A new centre for green chemistry innovation and commercialization has launched in Kingston, thanks in part to a $3-million investment announced by the City of Kingston.
The RXN Hub (Reaction Hub) is a 30,000-square-foot facility that combines chemistry wet labs, modular piloting and pre-manufacturing bays under one roof.
According to the city’s announcement, the Hub was first incorporated in 2024 and will be housed at 945 Princess St. within the footprint of Ottawa-based construction company Modern Niagara, which is one of the partners in the Hub alongside Queen’s University, the Ontario Centre of Innovation and a number of other chem-tech and cleantech organizations.
Hawkesbury-area business park discussions continue
A business group in Hawkesbury is trying to speed up negotiations between the town and neighbouring Champlain Township to get a business park up and running.
The Hawkesbury Industrial Investment Association acquired 130 acres of land in Champlain in 2022 in response to many companies looking to set up shop in the area. Landing those opportunities would mean having to add water and sewer servicing to the site.
According to Patrick Tallon, a board member with the association, the group is hoping that either the Town of Hawkesbury services the site or that the town takes the whole parcel of land and expands its services to the site. He said that one challenge in the negotiations is that Champlain Township would benefit from a property tax bump, while Hawkesbury would need to recover its costs for the hydro hook-up.
“The type of businesses we want to attract aren’t interested in well and septic,” Tallon told OBJ.
“Our prime minister said we want to double our exports to Europe and to sell more across Canada,” said Tallon, the CEO of Tulmar Safety Systems based in Hawkesbury. “This is a great opportunity to benefit from increased defence spending and the greater trans-Atlantic reliance on Canadian agriculture and food production.”
No Name pilot grocery store to remain in Brockville
Loblaws announced earlier this year that its three-store pilot of a No Name grocery store has concluded, with only one store remaining open.
The company said locations in St. Catharines, Ont., and LaSalle, Ont., hadn’t built a sustainable long-term customer base. However, the Brockville location will remain open.
The slimmed-down shopping experience, which is located next to a Dollarama and in the same plaza as a No Frills grocery store in Brockville, features shorter hours and a smaller refrigerated section.
American tourism to Kingston remains stable
Tourism Kingston says data for the first two quarters of 2025 showed U.S. visitation to the Limestone City remained stable.
“No matter the geopolitical landscape of today, Americans are still coming to Kingston specifically,” said Megan Knott, Tourism Kingston CEO, during an update to city council. “Being a drive market close to the U.S. border, we want to continue to talk to those tourists.”
In the Oct. 21 update to council, Knott credited a campaign, operated in partnership with Destination Ontario, to reach and retain American tourists as contributing to the result.
The data showed that American tourists were the second-largest contributor to Kingston’s tourism market after domestic visitors, comprising five per cent of overall visitors. Overall visits to Kingston were up 10.2 per cent year-over-year in Q2 of 2024, according to Tourism Kingston.
Primaris successfully courts Fairgrounds
While Kingston’s Cataraqui Centre mall owner Primaris REIT determines what to do with the former Hudson’s Bay footprint, it has found a tenant for part of the former Sears location at the opposite end of the mall.
A spokesperson for Toronto-based Fairgrounds says the company will open 10 pickleball courts inside the space with a grand opening expected in mid-December. The new space is part of the company’s expansion outside the GTA, which also includes pickleball courts in neighbouring Picton as well as locations in Alberta and B.C.
