London Inc. Weekly

Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc.

GM pulls the plug on BrightDrop production, effectively shuttering CAMI Assembly

General Motors is pulling the plug on the production of its BrightDrop electric delivery vehicle and leaving the fate of the CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll in limbo. “This certainly wasn’t an abrupt decision,” said Jennifer Wright, a GM spokesperson. “We have tried multiple things to try and make the BrightDrop a success in the marketplace.” The news was the latest blow for the beleaguered auto sector in Ontario, with Stellantis pulling back production in Brampton, and GM also cutting shifts in Oshawa. “Our plant is going through hell,” said Unifor 88 president Mike Van Boekel. “I don’t think any plant in North America has gone through more downtime in the past five years than us.” The announcement was also a tough blow for the Ingersoll community. “GM CAMI has always been good to Ingersoll, and we’ve shown that we have a good workforce that can produce a good product for them,” said Quinn Pow, president of the Ingersoll Chamber of Commerce. “Hopefully something positive will come out in the future, either another vehicle model or another product that we can manufacture and keep moving forward.”

The upshot: There’s a lot of temptation to blame Trump here, as Unifor national president Lana Payne did when she said that CAMI had been “hit from both directions by Trump, as he aggressively acted to undo EV supports and hit Canadian auto assembly plants with a 25 per cent tariff.” But there’s also the question of why GM’s flagship EV van simply never took off. The van was essentially a Chevy version of the Rivian EDV, but without the backing of Amazon (or any major corporate fleet in Canada). Compared to other legacy automakers’ comparable vehicles, it was also pricey, coming in at more than USD$20,000 over the comparable Ford e-Transit. It also had a confusing rollout, with BrightDrop at one point being a pseudo standalone startup that was later reabsorbed into GM in 2023, then shifted into the Chevrolet line in 2024. And there were multiple recalls on the vans. Add it all up, and it amounts to a venture that in retrospect looked challenged from the get-go. “These BrightDrop vans are a specialized electric delivery van for commercial customers and, quite simply, we just have not seen demand for these vehicles climb to the levels that we initially anticipated,” said Kristian Aquilina, GM Canada president and managing director. “This has nothing to do with tariffs or trade. It’s simply a demand and a market-driven response.” GM acknowledged federal and provincial support for the plant’s retooling. “[We] appreciate the investments from the Canadian and Ontario governments” said the automaker, adding that it intends to “have meaningful discussions” with both levels of government about future opportunities at CAMI.

Read more: CBC News London | TechCrunch

PSD Citywide lands VC investment to support NA expansion

London’s PSD Citywide, an enterprise asset management software primarily serving municipal government customers, has landed a strategic investment from California-based venture capital firm Norwest aimed at helping the company’s U.S. and Canadian expansion. “The Citywide platform empowers municipalities to overcome the challenges posed by aging infrastructure, budget constraints, inefficient process and disconnected technologies,” said Matt Dawe (pictured), founder and CEO of PSD Citywide. The company says it has worked with over 500 municipalities to manage over $400 billion in public assets, and saw growth in excess of 300 per cent in its U.S. business last year. The size of the investment wasn’t disclosed, but Norwest will take three seats on the PSD board. “What began as an industry publication has evolved into the most scalable, secure and purpose-built solution helping hundreds of municipalities manage their physical assets and provide a better citizen experience. We welcome Norwest’s deep expertise in government technology and their proven ability to partner with founder-led companies as we prepare for rapid expansion across the U.S. and Canada,” Dawe said. 

The upshot: Publisher turned software company PSD Citywide (it launched in 2003 as Public Sector Digest) is a bit of a sleeper success story in the city and is part of a rapidly expanding ‘govtech’ sector. Municipalities are managing aging, and increasingly large, infrastructure and assets, and many are years behind in terms of digitization and management. Norwest’s investment thesis here is that there is a massive market in the many cities and towns across North America that are stuck with old tools and lack the resources to build enterprise systems from the ground up. “Public works, parks & recreation, utilities and other municipal departments face the growing challenge of managing portfolios of aging assets while dealing with budget constraints, inefficient processes and disconnected technologies,” Norwest wrote in a blog post. “Investing often means spotting innovation where others see routine. For us, PSD Citywide represents exactly that kind of opportunity: a deeply respected, founder-led company that has quietly built one of North America’s leading enterprise asset management software platforms and is now ready to scale that success.” 

Read more: Norwest | Pulse 2.0

Hamilton Road BIA falls victim to six-figure phishing scam

The Hamilton Road BIA appears to have fallen victim to a six-figure phishing scam, CTV News London reported on Thursday. According to the report, the BIA lost $111,000 after scammers gained access to the BIA bank account. “In the summer, unfortunately, our executive director fell prey to a phishing scam. Someone was able to break our bank account,” said Councillor Hadleigh McAlister, who sits on the BIA’s board of directors. The loss of funds meant that the BIA had to drastically scale back operations this year, cutting staff and office staff, McAlister added. “We maintained services with the money we still had. Next year when we go into 2026 we can have a budget that will still maintain the service our members rely on.” The BIA is holding an annual general meeting next week, where more details will be available to members. 

The upshot: In 2021, police made an arrest after two BIAs in Toronto fell victim to fraud by a consultant, which led to a municipal auditor’s report that recommended tighter controls and safeguards being put in place. What it found was something that probably won’t be surprising if you know anything about BIAs: internal controls were weak, in part because the people running them were volunteers with varied backgrounds who turned over quickly, they were often running businesses during the day and there often weren’t resources to establish financial control structures. It is not all that surprising that as they grow, challenges arise. BIAs are not that old in London, but as in other cities, they are becoming important nodes in the business/political world — and organizations through which more and more money and personal information is flowing. Considering it was city money that was ultimately stolen, it will be worth keeping an eye out for whether any city politicians or staff want to take this moment to look at the overall operation of BIAs. In the meantime, it’s a rough story for the Hamilton Road BIA, who were only able to recover $14,000, of the $125,000 that was initially stolen. 

Read more: CTV News London

The Tea Haus marks a quarter century, moves into new digs

A big happy birthday to one of the Covent Garden Market’s most well-known tenants, The Tea Haus. Founded by Stefanie Stolzel and her husband Michael Schmidt in 2000, the store has been a staple on the upper level of the market for many years, and it’s likely that most tea-drinking Londoners have been there at one point or another (yours truly used to take the bus there from the north end once or twice a week in his senior year of high school). “The Tea Haus has always been more than just a shop,” Stolzel said. “It’s a gathering place for tea lovers, a space to slow down and a celebration of flavour, craftsmanship and community. We’re thrilled to continue this next chapter right here in the market.”

The upshot: What do you get a 25-year-old tea shop for its birthday? Maybe some new digs: the store is celebrating both its anniversary and a new space, as it’s moved into the old Market Kitchen, kitty corner to its old space on the mezzanine level. “Our new space truly captures the spirit of tea. It’s a place to pause, connect and discover the incredible variety and quality that loose-leaf tea has to offer,” said Stolzel. “We’re so grateful to the market team and board for helping us make this move possible. This new chapter allows us to continue growing while staying rooted in the community that has supported us for so long.” If you fancy stopping by to celebrate, the shop is hosting an event on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, with free tea samples, live music and product specials. 

Read more: The Tea Haus

Western and McMaster to share research facilities

Western and McMaster universities have signed an agreement to give researchers shared access to 13 research facilities across the two schools. Researchers at each school can now access the research facilities at the other school for the same rates, creating a bit of a regional research infrastructure hub in Southwestern Ontario. “Collaboration is the key to accelerating outcomes,” said Penny Pexman, VP of research at Western. “The more we come together as individuals and institutions to leverage investments and remove barriers to success, the more productive we can be in addressing the questions that matter most in our region and to our country.” The partnership will start as a three-year pilot program, and will give Western researchers access to facilities like McMaster’s Centre for Electron Microscopy and the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute, while McMaster researchers can hop down Highway 403 and use Western’s Biotron and its Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping (just to name a couple).

The upshot: The partnership is a pragmatic response to the realities of research funding. By sharing access, the idea is that both universities can improve utilization rates, while sharing the tools and capabilities each has developed. “It gives both universities better value, stronger expertise and ensures their facilities are better supported,” said Mark Biesinger, director of Surface Science Western. Nabil Bassim, director of the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy at McMaster, added that they were “excited to welcome more Western researchers into our facility and use this as a springboard to spark new collaborations. Shared access means more minds working together, more hands-on training for students and more impactful research outcomes.” 

Read more: Western News

Hyland Cinema goes big

London’s Hyland Cinema will be the only theatre west of the GTA with a working 70mm film projector, after the indie theatre got their hands on a Xenex II projector, believed to have been built in the 1960s, that they’ve been restoring for five years. The acquisition and restoration is the passion project of the theatre’s projectionist, Victor Liorentas. “[70 mm] has more resolution and detail and life than digital,” Liorentas told The London Free Press. “I instantly see the richness, the colours, the brightness — I can get more brightness out of the [70 mm] film.” The theatre says it expects to screen its first 70mm print in early 2026. “I think it’s going to be pretty exciting when we get our first print in it. I think it’s going to have a great response here in London,” said the Hyland’s owner, Moira Adlan. “There’s a lot of people who are real, diehard cinema lovers in London.”

The upshot: It is, of course, incredibly cool for local film fans to have a 70mm projector here in town, but it could be a big draw for the Hyland in general. The format is enjoying a bit of a revival, with big name directors increasingly pushing studios to produce 70mm prints. 2023’s Oppenheimer was probably the most memorable (with only 30 screens, it made $17 million from 70mm screenings alone), but recent films like One Battle After Another and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood have also drawn viewers to 70mm screenings, on top of older films that are being re-released on 70mm. The hope for the Hyland, which has not been without its financial challenges in recent years, is being the only screen in the region with such a projector will allow it to cast a wider net for special screenings “Without having to drive five hours, spend the night in Toronto, and even try to fight for a ticket,” noted Liorentas.

Read more: London Free Press | CTV News London

Dispatch: October 24, 2025

A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week.

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