Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | CAMI to resume production with dramatically reduced workforce The GM CAMI Assembly Plant will resume production in November but will slash its workforce by around 60 per cent. Production at the plant, which produces the BrightDrop electric delivery vans, will resume with a single production shift, and will reduce its workforce from around 1,000 to only about 400 workers. “Last week when we came to work the company informed us that we will be coming back November 17, on one shift — it will be a slow shift — running slower than what we’re used to,” Unifor Local 88 chair Mike Van Boekel told The London Free Press. The plant was shut down in April, with GM citing low demand for BrightDrop vehicles. “I think an extreme optimist might have hoped we were coming back on two shifts. But sales just haven’t been there. The volumes haven’t been there,” Van Boekel said. Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie said they “wish it was better news,” adding that “everyone wants to see that plant up and running at full capacity. Unfortunately, that’s not the outcome at this time.” According to the union local website, GM and Unifor are in the process of offering retirement and buyout packages. The upshot: GM called it “a temporary adjustment to align production to customer demand and manage battery inventory levels,” but also added it is not planning to resume production of EV batteries at the site. Van Boekel told CBC News London they expect future vehicles will be built with batteries imported from the United States, primarily due to the impact of tariffs. Anecdotally, courier companies FedEx and DHL have had more BrightDrop vehicles on Canadian roads in recent months, with GM providing data to the CBC showing that nearly 500 vans were purchased in Canada last year. Van Boekel said demand has been increasing marginally each month. “Hopefully it keeps going up, but we should be able to retain one shift,” he said. “But obviously, they didn’t put all the money into this plant just for one shift.” Read more: London Free Press | CBC News London | | | Info-Tech Research Group to add 150 employees locally and 450 globally as it prioritizes AI IT consultancy firm Info-Tech Research Group announced it is hiring 450 new employees, including 150 in London, as it undertakes a significant global expansion. Along with the announcement of a new round of hiring, the company recently opened offices in Singapore and New Zealand, part of their focus on the Asia-Pacific region. “Southeast Asia is a tech hub and there are opportunities available,” said the company’s new senior VP of Asia-Pacific Byron Rudenno. Shawn Gibson, the company’s chief human resources officer, told The London Free Press the company may also continue to hire as it continues to grow. “As we continue in a phase of hypergrowth,” he said, “we may see these numbers scale further to match our momentum.” The upshot: The London-based tech advisory firm, which already provides thousands of IT, human resource and marketing businesses with research and advisory services, is aiming to position itself as the go-to consultancy for AI advice and guidance. It will be familiar material for readers of Monday’s London Inc. Worklife newsletter, but companies everywhere are adapting to AI in ways that range from smart and innovative to chaotic and counterintuitive. “There is a need for IT leaders to ensure they innovate and provide services to organizations to compete in the markets they thrive in,” Rudenno told the Free Press. Local venture capitalist Brian Foster said that he expects Info-Tech to perform well in that space. “What Info-Tech offers is depth of expertise you cannot get from using AI tools,” he said. “These are fast-growing markets and I think they can do very well.” Read more: Newswire | London Free Press | | | Doubletree by Hilton Hotel London converts 124 units to apartments A total of 124 furnished apartments are hitting the rental market as a project to convert some of the hotel rooms at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel London wraps up. “We’re incredibly proud to unveil these significant enhancements,” Sumit Bhatia, regional operations manager with Holloway Lodgings, which owns the Doubletree, told The London Free Press. “We’re confident these updates will make a positive impression.” At one point, Holloway Lodgings (which is also building a 400-plus unit residential tower next to the hotel) had mulled the idea of converting all 300 or so rooms to apartments — an idea that drew a lot of pushback from the city, given that the hotel is a key part of the RBC Place Convention Centre package. Holloway eventually withdrew that proposal in 2023, but apparently pursued a middle ground. “I’m happy to see this conversion complete,” said Ward 13 Councillor David Ferreira. “This model is an interesting mix between both hotel and apartments and it will serve as an example by Hilton, that pivoting and operating outside of their normal business model is a viable option.” The units, which are being marketed under the Latitude Living banner, are a mix of bachelor and one-bedroom suite units, with rents starting at $1,500. The upshot: Also this week, the hotel announced it had signed a renewed franchise agreement with Hilton that will see a “comprehensive hotel renovation” at the site as it pivots towards a more multi-faceted business model. “We have added 124 residential units to ‘right-size’ an historically under-utilized hotel, commenced work on the 320 King development site to bring another 448 rental units to the market and recently announced a partnership with the RBC Convention Centre that will strengthen London’s appeal as a conference destination,” said Holloway Lodging COO Robert Sherman. Cheryl Finn, general manager of Tourism London, added that “this new franchise agreement and the exciting future renovations represents a significant investment in London’s downtown core. This project reinforces the hotel’s role as a key asset in our city’s tourism infrastructure and reinforces London’s position as a premier destination for meetings, events, and leisure travel.” Read more: London Free Press | Latitude Living London | | | TorQuest Partners takes stake in Waste Solutions Canada Toronto-based private equity firm TorQuest Partners announced this week it had purchased a stake in London-based Waste Solutions Canada (WSC), a managed service provider for waste and recycling. “We are very pleased to partner with Waste Solutions Canada, whose solutions-driven approach and track record of operational excellence have established the company as a trusted leader in the waste and recycling managed service provider sector,” said TorQuest managing partner Matthew Chapman. “We look forward to working closely with the WSC team to further scale the platform, broaden its service offering, accelerate growth through acquisitions, and reinforce the company’s leadership position in the market.” According to company press releases, WSC’s co-founders, Jason Wilcox and Shane Curtis, will retain “substantial” ownership positions and will continue to lead the company. The upshot: Given the reference to growth through acquisition, this news is likely a tee-up for future moves WSC is looking to make as it looks to expand. Currently, it employs just over 100 staff. From comments made by Wilcox in official press releases, those moves could come quickly. “We are entering an exciting new phase of growth and are proud to partner with TorQuest to accelerate this journey,” he said. “Our success has always been rooted in our people, making it essential that we align with a partner who shares that people-first culture. TorQuest’s track record for scaling companies organically and through M&A supports our shared vision to be the leading managed service provider for waste in Canada.” Read more: Waste Today | | | City looks to bolster available funds for housing incentive programs So many developers have lined up for a piece of the housing incentive pie that the city now says it needs to top it up with an additional $9.5 million in federal funding. The two oversubscribed incentive programs — the office-to-residential conversion incentive (pictured is Sifton’s office-to-residential conversion currently underway at 195 Dufferin Avenue) and the transit-oriented development incentive — are both key city supports in the mayor’s housing policy. “It’s clear that we’re being very effective in using those monies and getting the results,” said Councillor Steve Lehman. City staff are recommending that the city draw the $9.5 million from leftover federal funds. “The surplus funding sources identified from the current programs and initiatives are being recommended to be reallocated toward programs that are currently over-subscribed or have demonstrated success in producing additional residential units for the city, ensuring that London continues to meet the expectations of the (housing accelerator fund) agreement and the unit count milestones,” a city staff report stated. The upshot: There’s probably two ways of looking at this. The first is that the incentives have been popular with developers, and effective at moving projects along. Though office conversions have been slower to get going, the city says it has received applications for more than 2,500 units across the two programs. The other might be that with housing construction broadly slowing down across the city and province, announcing a significant top-up of available public funding should help reassure developers who might be wavering on whether to put up their own capital on major projects. Either way, the hope is that the money helps grease the wheels on more development. Talking to CTV News London, the city’s acting manager for community improvement and regeneration Mike Macaulay said, “Additional funding will help these programs continue to support additional residential units in London.” Read more: CTV News London | London Free Press | | | College support staff hit the picket lines as Fanshawe grapples with financial fallout from limits on international students More than 10,000 full-time support workers at Ontario colleges, including about 650 at Fanshawe, hit the picket lines on Thursday. At issue, primarily, is job security amid sweeping cuts to staff and programs across Ontario’s college system. “Support staff are the lowest paid employees in the college sector and we’re bearing the brunt of layoffs,” said Adam Rayfield, president of OPSEU Local 109. The union is primarily looking for greater protections for its members, as well as attempting to get the College Employers’ Council to agree to a moratorium on campus closures (something the CEC says will potentially push some colleges into bankruptcy). While classes are still being held, students at Fanshawe say the ongoing cuts to support staff pre-strike were apparent. “I can tell that there are fewer support staff already,” one student told the CBC News London. As the negotiations are between the union and the provincial body representing the colleges, everyone at Fanshawe is waiting to see how it plays out. “Our biggest concerns right now are to do with how staffing and program cuts at the college may impact our student members,” said Jerry Thomas, president of the Fanshawe Student Union. The upshot: Looming over all of it is the fallout from new limits on international students. In an interview with The London Free Press, Fanshawe outlined just how deep the impact of the new limits on international students is. The school is seeing a drop in international enrollment of over 50 per cent and has seen its operating budget drop from $530 million to $371 million. Despite the strike, school administrators looked to put on a brave face. “The international caps were a shock to the entire system, but we have had the benefit of time. We’ve recalibrated accordingly,” Jeff Wright, VP of innovation, strategy and enrollment said. Mark Feltham, president of OPSEU Local 110 (which represents faculty) said “the hallways are emptier than they used to be. We have fewer students, programs have been cancelled and there are students graduating from programs that don’t exist anymore.” Read more: CBC News London | London Free Press | | | Dispatch: September 12, 2025 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |