Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | TVDSB goes deeper in the red Fingers are being pointed after the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) released its latest budget, where a projected $16.8-million deficit is now expected to double to around $32 million. On Monday, the school board (currently under the supervision of provincial appointee Paul Boniferro) released a budget report that concluded the “TVDSB is in a structure deficit position ― a result of an imbalance in revenue and expenditures, as opposed to an imbalance based on one-off or short-term factors,” and warned that “difficult decisions and prioritization of resources are required.” The school board now plans on trimming around $9.6 million in operating costs, including $7 million on salaries by cutting 115 positions, of which around 65 will be school staff and 14 will come from administration, per a CBC report; in March, 60 positions were declared surplus. The board said it plans to run an approximate $10.8-million deficit next year, which would be in line with provincial rules that require boards to hold their deficits to less than one percent of overall spending. The report also hinted at “future property sales,” though did not elaborate. “Our focus is on making thoughtful adjustments that will help us maintain the high standards of education our community expects, while working toward long-term financial stability,” said the TVDSB’s director of education Bill Tucker, in a statement. The upshot: First came the numbers, then the blame game began. Teachers’ union leaders and some trustees pointed fingers at the provincial funding model. “Education is publicly funded and when the government denies the proper funds to be allocated to an educational sector to operate, how could it possibly function?” CUPE Local 4222 leader Mary Henry told The London Free Press, noting that it’s likely inevitable that class sizes in the public board would increase. Middlesex Trustee Christian Sachs called the funding model “broken for years.” The education funding file is becoming a bit of an albatross around the province’s neck here, with these complaints echoing what provincial colleges have been saying amid their own financial headaches. Minister of Education Paul Calandra shot back at these comments, telling the CBC in a statement the report “reaffirms just how profoundly trustees failed in their duty to manage public funds,” and “underscores the need for the ministry to have a more proactive role in the management of school boards across the province.” The province recently placed two boards in Toronto, one in Dufferin-Peel and one in Ottawa under similar supervision arrangements, suggesting that the province is keen to play a more active role in the management of local school boards. Read more: CBC News London | London Free Press | | | Southwest gets another big housing proposal There’s another big housing proposal heading to city hall for the southwest region of the city. Toronto-based developer KLM Planning Partners is pitching an 899-unit development, comprising two apartment towers of 14 and 16 storeys, 12 townhomes and commercial space at 3317 White Oak Road (rendering pictured). The development is being tied informally to work beginning on the Bradley Avenue extension, which will extend Bradley and connect it to Wharncliffe Road, just west of White Oak Road. “Ever since I started on council in 2018… ‘When’s it happening?’ has been a long-standing question,” Councillor Elizabeth Peloza told The London Free Press, speaking about the extension project. The answer, she said, is “when we start having those higher-intensity developments,” which are starting to materialize in a big way ― recall that council recently approved nearly 4,000 units on Pack Road. The proposal will have to wait a while to get a full assessment by city politicians, as it’s not slated to come before the planning committee until October 1. The upshot: The proposal isn’t garnering nearly as much resident pushback as the Pack Road proposal, but it is raising other questions, Peloza said. The area is very much an industrial area, but the hope has long been to inject mixed-use developments into the mix. KLM’s proposal said its plan is “intended to serve as a transitional development, bridging the gap between the existing industrial uses, mixed-uses and low-density residential areas which exist in the surrounding area.” Peloza said city staff will have more input on that towards the fall, and she’s waiting to hear about the staff’s “vision”, asking, “Is this going to be the domino effect of this area that’s going to switch it to residential? Or is it going to be like, ‘No, this really is light industrial, and it’s not appropriate?’” Read more: London Free Press | | | OEV BIA looks to offset declining membership with boundary expansion The Old East Village BIA is hoping to move forward with a plan to expand its boundaries, though it says it will likely have to wait until other BIAs do the same. General manager of the BIA Kevin Morrison said that the expansion plans are partly due to the number of businesses that have left OEV in the last few years. “We have a minimal amount of businesses left in this district at the moment because we have such a high concentration of social service providers, yet the businesses still want a strong voice like the BIA,” Morrison told CTV News London. That said, OEV will have to get in line. The Hyde Park BIA recently attempted ― unsuccessfully ― to expand its own boundaries, and the Hamilton Road BIA is next in line with its own expansion plans. “I’ve gone to the planning department and have received confirmation that they really can’t get this going until 2026,” Morrison said. The upshot: BIA expansion is an interesting trend right now in London. Funding is obviously part of it ― with fewer businesses, OEV BIA brings in a levy of only about $42,000 annually. “As the municipality grows, so too must the organizations that are operating within the municipality,” Morrison said. Its expansion plans would bring the 100 Kellogg complex into the boundaries, which would help with levies, but potentially contribute to tensions between smaller and larger businesses, as we saw with Hyde Park. There’s also the ball of political influence in play here ― the BIAs, particularly downtown, have been vocal players as the city grapples with social issues in the urban core, and have also been frustrated with the fact that they are often picking up the tab for enhanced security costs, something that the BIAs say strengthens their case for expansion. “I think there’s strength in numbers,” said Councillor Hadleigh McAlister, who sits on the Hamilton Road BIA board. “There’s a lot of cost savings in terms of businesses in an area banding together, whether that’s for advertising, for security, property improvements or beautifying the area.” Read more: CTV News London | | | Fanshawe commits to downtown campus Fanshawe says it has no plan to pull back from its downtown campus, even though it expects a significant drop in enrollment there in the upcoming year. “All of the programs that are currently here will continue to be here in the fall and beyond,” Silvana Macdonald, dean of the Faculty of Business and Hospitality, told CBC News London. “We are a part of downtown. We love being downtown and the wonderful thing about being downtown is that they’re super connected to all the businesses and industries that are already here.” However, a few of the programs that might stream into those businesses ― like the food and beverage management, hotel and resort management and tourism and hospitality management — have all been cancelled. Fanshawe expects the student population at the downtown campus to drop from approximately 1,580 to 1,050. The upshot: Given the rocky waters Fanshawe is swimming in lately, there has been some concern about the future of its downtown campus ― concern that intensified when Western University hit the brakes on its downtown campus amid cost concerns. That said, it would have been a bit of a surprise if they pulled the plug only seven years core campus project was completed, particularly with new programs like the music industry program set to launch there. “We are going to feel and know that we have fewer students, but it’s still a good, healthy number of students,” Macdonald said. Still, there will be some impacts. Businesses in the area told CBC they’ll feel the impact of fewer students in the downtown core. “Any loss of clientele is a hit,” said Omar El-Cheikh, owner of a new ice cream spot called Pinochi, which is next to the campus building. Fanshawe president Peter Devlin added, “We’ll be a little bit smaller, but we will be equally committed to our community and to the students that we serve.” Read more: CBC News London | | | Even Santa is moving to St. Thomas Well, Santa has left the building. Or at least Santa’s house has left the city. The Santa’s House holiday attraction, which has been Santa’s home in Victoria Park, followed by the Covent Garden Market, for the past 10 years, is moving to St. Thomas after its founder Leo Larizza and his TLC Foundation (which fundraises for terminally ill and sick children) were unable to reach an agreement to keep the attraction at the market. It will instead move to the Elgin County Railway Museum in St. Thomas. “It’s just that we couldn’t come up with another home for Santa in London,” said Larizza. “I don’t know why. We raised hundreds of thousands for kids in London, so now it’s a new chapter.” The Railway Museum seems like a much more welcoming landlord for Santa. “We thought it was a great opportunity for the community,” said COO of the museum Will Zufelt. Its plan is to bring Santa’s House to the museum this year and then search for a permanent home for Santa for 2026 and beyond. “It’s just a great opportunity for businesses to showcase their business. Have the trees up, come in, see the trees and now you’re going to see the trees and come see Santa,” Zufelt said. “We’ve got bigger plans to bring more people to our community and more tourism for St. Thomas.” The upshot: Thus concludes one of the more unusual brouhahas of the last few years. Santa’s House was first brought to Vic Park by then-mayor Matt Brown, and ever since has sparked various arguments about where the house should live year-round, what colour it should be painted in the off-season, who should pay to move it and how large it should be. The city and Larizza have not got along very well, at least on this issue, it seems. “I want to thank London for everything they’ve done these past 10 years because they’ve been amazing,” he said, but not before letting his cordial tone slip a bit. “One or two people complain and say it’s an eyesore and the city reacts and says, ‘Well, we got to get it out of here.’ […] We’ve got to look at the reason why Santa’s house was there to begin with. If their child was sick and we had to take care of them, they would certainly change their views on it being an eyesore.” Still, Larizza is excited for the future in St. Thomas. “I just think London had its time and now St. Thomas is going to gain something. They’ve got a big group behind them to make it even more successful.” (If nothing else, it’s evidence that everyone really is moving to St. Thomas these days.) Read more: CTV News London | | | NFPs launch program to help individuals with criminal records overcome barriers to employment Goodwill Industries is partnering with the John Howard Society of London and District (JHSLD) to launch a new pilot project, called the Fair Chances Employment Pipeline Project, which aims to provide job training for 30 individuals with criminal records. “”JHSLD and Goodwill collectively bring decades of experience in delivering similar programs, ensuring the necessary capacity to successfully implement this program,” said JHSLD executive director Taghrid Hussain. The JHSLD said it will be referring 30 job-ready participants to Goodwill, which will provide job readiness training before placing them in positions in the area. “We found that so many people with criminal records are really struggling,” Hussain told CBC News London. “The idea is to encourage other employers to do the same thing, to start thinking about giving an opportunity to individuals who are justice-involved.” Jessica Justrabo, director of strategic partnerships and community impact at Goodwill Industries, said “We’re really excited to continue our support for this model because it’s what we do best, and we came together to really make sure that we are improving outcomes and improving lives in our communities.” The pilot program is being funded by a $109,000 grant from the London Community Foundation. The upshot: There’s been an increasing awareness that criminal records have a serious impact on the ability of people to secure employment. A 2021 Public Safety Canada report found that, in Canada, only half of people coming out of prison had a job 14 years after getting out. “Employers are reluctant to hire an employee with a criminal record,” wrote Renze Nauta, the work & economics program director at the non-partisan think tank Cardus, last year. “They may fear possible equipment theft or, worse, workplace violence. But the data show that these fears are exaggerated and that people with criminal records can be excellent employees.” Hussain said she hoped this pilot program would, in addition to helping the jobseekers themselves, serve as an example to businesses. “The idea is to encourage other employers to do the same thing, to start thinking about giving an opportunity to individuals who are justice-involved,” Hussain told CBC. Read more: CBC News London | Goodwill Industries | | | Dispatch: August 1, 2025 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. 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