Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | WSIB HQ officially opens The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has officially opened its new digs at the former 3M Canada head office on Tartan Drive, which it bought for $21 million in 2023. Technically, it’s had WSIB staff working there since June, according to CEO Jeffrey Lang, but they are now ramping up the number of staff in the building, which is eventually expected to hit 1,000 employees. “It made a lot of sense from an economic standpoint to locate outside of the GTA, and it also helps us attract people,” Lang told CTV News London. “The premier made it very clear when he asked me to do this — he said, Let’s bring some of these larger organizations out into the province.’ And so, he chose London. I’m very happy that he did.” The upshot: Perhaps not wanting to seem like a party guest who shows up empty handed, and in line with the kind of social outreach expected of large public organizations making this kind of move, the WSIB says it has been working on building partnerships with various organizations in the city. They’re using the catering services of Youth Opportunities Unlimited, funding scholarships through both Western and Fanshawe and using an acre of land to plant a fruit and vegetable garden on the grounds in partnership with Growing Chefs Ontario and the London Food Bank. “I hope people in London will take some pride in knowing the WSIB is making this city our home base,” Lang said in a press release. “We’re looking forward to taking on a bigger role as part of this community.” Read more: CTV News London | | | Fanshawe launches standalone four-year nursing program Fanshawe College has introduced its new four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, replacing the long-standing collaborative nursing program with Western University (which the schools announced was wrapping up earlier this year). “We had a very collaborative and successful relationship with Western University for many years, but it is now time to offer our own degree in nursing,” said Dr. Sandra DeLuca, associate dean of the nursing school at Fanshawe. Nursing prof Pat Bethune-Davies added that the program “offers dedicated faculty with strong leadership and a commitment to nursing education, practice and research,” and will “promote excellence in nursing education at a time when there is an increasing need to prepare more professional nurses.” The new program is now accepting applications and will commence in September 2026. The upshot: Back in the summer when the end of the collaborative nursing program was first reported by the Western Gazette, we speculated that Fanshawe’s move to end the collaboration was likely about accessing more direct funding for its nursing education, rather than having to negotiate a shared funding agreement with Western. It makes some sense — in 2022, the Ontario government gave colleges the green light to expand their degree programs from five to 10 per cent of total programming, the first time the degree-granting powers of colleges had been expanded since 2000, and Fanshawe looks to be taking advantage of that here. And while Fanshawe certainly has a long history of nursing education, it does raise the question of how the two programs, which have long operated in tandem, will differentiate themselves going forward, both in terms of curriculum and areas like financial assistance to students. Read more: Fanshawe College | | | Putting a little hometown in your holiday viewing Ho, ho, hoooold on just a minute… Is that Allure Hair Studio? Is that Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre? Is that London?? That’s something you might find yourself saying as you watch Very Merry Mystery, a new holiday film shot entirely in the Forest City last summer, premiering December 13 on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). The official plot summary released by OWN says the movie follows “beloved beauty shop owner” Bea, who attends a Christmas Murder Mystery party at the home of a “hard-nosed businesswoman” (a London Inc. Weekly subscriber, no doubt). A kidnapping ensues, and Bea must team up with her boyfriend to solve the crime. The movie was filmed by local production studio Broad Films, run by Fanshawe professor Michelle Shipley and co-founder Kelly Peckham. Broad Films specializes in scouting locations in London and Southwestern Ontario for fiction films, non-fiction films and television series. The upshot: Festive, romantic and predictable? You bet — that’s the name of the Christmas movie game, and it’s great to see London getting a slice of mincemeat pie. Advantageous tax breaks and the festive backdrops of small-town settings around the country have gone a long way to supporting the holiday film sector in Canada — over 75 per cent of Hallmark Channel holiday movies are shot in Canada, most of those on the west coast. (For now, The Donald seems to have forgotten about his proposed 100 per cent foreign movie tariff). In Very Merry Mystery’s case, London is a stand-in for the fictional town of Harfield, Georgia (they did shoot in the height of the summer, after all). Official trailer: YouTube | | | RBC backs new Nonprofit Leadership Resilience Lab The Pillar Nonprofit Network is launching a new Nonprofit Leadership Resilience Lab with the help of a $345,000 donation from Royal Bank of Canada. Pillar says the multi-year donation will go to support the new program, which they say will offer executive coaching, peer learning and leadership development. “Nonprofit leaders are at the heart of our communities, yet too often they lack the support they need to thrive,” said Maureen Cassidy, Pillar’s CEO. “With RBC’s support, we can help leaders build resilience, foster equity and strengthen the organizations that make our communities more inclusive and vibrant.” Tanja Wilkins, the regional VP for RBC, said it is “important that we find ways to help [leaders] feel better prepared to face obstacles and manage through challenges.” The upshot: As RBC points out in their own promo for this program (which in total comprises a $7 million donation to 22 partners), non-profits are the biggest sector of the Canadian economy (employing around 2.5 million people), and yet it is a sector beset by chronic human resources challenges. A study from this past May highlighted the difficulties many nonprofits in the London region face when it comes to retaining staff, who deal with high levels of burnout, poor culture fit and a variety of other human resources challenges (which Pillar itself has not been immune to, if you recall the musical chairs that was the CEO seat a few years back). Pillar says that this program is expected to support more than 100 nonprofit leaders over the next three years. Read more: RBC | Pillar Nonprofit Network | | | City returns to two hours of free parking downtown There’s no such thing as a free lunch, they say, but there is free parking. A motion from Councillor David Ferreira, which passed 11 to four at the council table, will fund two hours of free on-street parking in the downtown, plus Midtown and Old East Village. “If we are wanting to revitalize the downtown, this is what it is — just small little moves that we can make that allow us to open up the downtown for the city at large,” Ferreira said at council, noting that the existing parking promo — an hour free through the Honk app, wasn’t necessarily enough for those who might come downtown for an appointment or for lunch. The move will come with a cost to the taxpayer of around $784,000, according to city staff (so, perhaps there isn’t free parking after all). The upshot: It will not surprise readers to know the heads of the BIAs are giving two thumbs up to the program. Interim executive director of Downtown London, Vicki Smith, told The London Free Press two hours of free parking “helps to level the playing field with what the suburban commercial areas have, because free parking is standard in those areas.” Kevin Morrison, executive director of the Old East Village BIA, said the city should go further. “I think it’s time that they actually did take a look at doing it permanently,” citing the confusing array of Honk-based free parking promos, extensions to city programs and so on. “I, too, have been frustrated by going back and forth,” he said. Read more: London Free Press | | | Western researchers advance sodium battery tech Researchers at Western University are making progress on a new type of battery technology they say could reduce fire risk. Called a solid-state sodium battery, this new battery tech uses sodium to replace flammable liquid electrolytes and rare elements like lithium. “Sodium is much more abundant and cheaper, and if we can make it work in a solid-state form of the electrolyte, it could be cheaper, safer and long lasting,” said associate professor Yang Zhao. The tech the team at Western is working on is in the early stages of development. “We’re making real progress toward safer, more cost-effective batteries,” Zhao said. The upshot: Sodium battery technology could be a big game changer for consumer electronics (phones, computers, etc.), but over the long term, that could also throw a wrench Canada’s quest to be a major player in the electric vehicle supply chain by mining critical minerals like lithium. We’re already seeing some Chinese EV makers transitioning to sodium batteries, in fact. CATL, the Chinese battery giant that produces more than one-third of all EV batteries sold worldwide, said earlier this year that they “will achieve mass production [of sodium batteries] by the end of the year,” and claims it will “restructure the whole industry.” Sodium batteries offer some improvements over traditional EV batteries — more range, much faster charging time (CATL claims its batteries can get 520 kilometres of range with just five minutes of charging) and better performance in the cold. Read more: Western News | | | Dispatch: November 28, 2025 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |