OBJ staff

Wills Transfer acquires Carp-based Orange Logistics Centres

Eastern Ontario Business Journal

Smiths Falls company continues to expand its eastern Ontario footprint with latest deal.

New city bylaw to limit short-term rentals to 10 guests

City Hall

Change is part of new rules aimed at more tightly regulating properties rented out on Airbnb and similar platforms.

Committee green-lights plan to seek public feedback on small biz tax cut

City Hall

The change would cut property taxes by 10 per cent at about 4,700 commercial properties housing nearly 8,000 small businesses in Ottawa.

Podcast: Shopify’s C-suite shakeup, hot cottage market and ‘turning dirty air into dollars’

Ottawa, Ottawa Business Journal Podcasts

Listen on Spotify or Soundcloud, or watch the video on OBJ’s YouTube channel.

Joint city committee backs stricter rules on short-term rentals

Tourism

New bylaw would restrict short-term rentals on Airbnb and other similar platforms to a host’s primary residence.

Kingston’s Spectra Plasmonics pilots rapid tests to find ‘fingerprints’ of toxic contaminants in street drugs

Eastern Ontario Business Journal

The firm’s drug analysis system identifies the unique chemical ‘fingerprints’ of various substances and can detect the presence of dangerous contaminants such as fentanyl.

Sweep deal: Calgary-based landscaping firm acquires Ottawa street-cleaning company

Ottawa

After merging with another local company last year, Urban Life Solutions said this week it’s acquired Ottawa-based Richard’s Sweeping.

Delay of game: Ottawa Titans’ inaugural Frontier League season pushed back to 2022

Sports and Entertainment

New baseball franchise’s planned 2021 debut scuttled due to uncertainty over when the Canada-U.S. border will reopen.

Ottawa housing starts bounce back big in March: CMHC

Residential

Developers in the National Capital Region broke ground on 1,196 new dwelling units last month, up from 634 in March 2020, agency says.

Cannabis producer Hexo seeks $1.2B capital raise to fund expansion plans

Ottawa

CEO Sebastien St-Louis said the Ottawa-based company is seeking “maximum flexibility” to make acquisitions and sign partnerships with players in related industries.