Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | YXU gains summer flights as airlines trim capacity elsewhere The London International Airport is doubling its summer service levels, the airport said this week. The airport is seeing a substantial increase in the number of regular domestic flights, up to five daily London to Toronto flights from Air Canada, three daily London to Calgary flights, and three-times-weekly London to Winnipeg trips. “We’re pleased to see Air Canada expanding its presence in London with frequent, all-jet service to Toronto,” said airport CEO Scott McFadzean, adding praise for WestJet’s investment in flights, which he said reflects “continued confidence in the London market.” The upshot: Perhaps the most surprising thing about this is the timing, since airlines everywhere are in crisis management mode over recent fuel cost increases. On Wednesday, Air Transat announced it was cutting six per cent of its capacity between May and October. Asked at the beginning of April what Canadians could expect from summer travel, aviation lecturer John Gradek told BNN Bloomberg, “It will be chaos. It will be turmoil.” So, the additional flights (and resulting shifts, hours and revenue) is certainly welcome if surprising news. On Monday, WestJet said it wasn’t cancelling any flights, but was “evaluating its summer schedule,” and Air Canada cancelled a handful of flights to New York JFK, so this might be a case of redirected capacity. But added connectivity is never a bad thing, especially if there’s any spillover increase in traffic related to the World Cup later this year. “Most people are thinking and hoping the fuel crisis is short-lived and it will be corrected,” McFadzean told The London Free Press. Airlines, he said, are “betting that oil will stabilize and people will travel.” We shall see if that bears out. Read more: YXU | London Free Press | | | Dell tech acquired by U.S.-based Registrar Corp London’s Dell Tech, a regulatory compliance and testing consultant firm for the chemical industry, has been acquired by Registrar Corp, an American company based in Virginia with an expansive client base in the food-and-beverage sector. “Joining Registrar Corp marks an exciting new chapter for Dell Tech and our clients,” said Jennifer Grant (pictured), who took over as president and majority shareholder of Dell Tech in 2016 (it was previously helmed by Bob Dell, who founded the company in 1980). “We are strengthening our ability to scale and more effectively support our clients’ growth as they expand globally.” Raj Shah, CEO of Registrar Corp, said Dell Tech brings “exception depth in Canadian regulatory affairs” and said the combined operation is “uniquely positions to deliver even greater value to companies looking to expand into Canada.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The upshot: Dell Tech’s niche is working with global clients looking to secure regulatory approvals to enter the Canadian market. The whole acquisition looks like it’s part of a bigger private equity roll-up by Paine Schwartz Partners, which p Registrar Corp in 2021. In the last year, they’ve financed other acquisitions by Registrar, including a Spanish medical device compliance company last year, and an American food safety compliance firm in February. Acquiring Dell Tech basically rolls their compliance experience dealing with Health Canada into the wider operation, widening Registrar’s market share while likely increasing access to resources for Dell Tech. Read more: Business Wire | Pulse 2.0 | | | City to lobby for more oversight for private safer-supply clinics City council has endorsed a motion put forward by Councillor David Ferreira to have the city lobby the province for changes to the safe opioid supply program. Ferreira and council want to see the province take greater oversight and replace the largely privatized, for-profit safe supply model with a publicly funded one that works through health system and can connect people with other addiction treatment resources. Currently, all safe opioid supply programs are run through private pharmacies, and in London, all five safe supply pharmacies are operating via a partnership with one company, New Dawn Medical. “The for-profit model is about customer retention,” Ferreira told CBC News London. “The model that we should be looking for is for people to get stabilized. The two are at odds with each other.” Ferreira has been voicing concerns with the private model since February, which he has likened to a “variety store” business model. He’s received support from the Downtown London BIA, which has also criticized the pharmacy model, saying it is “negatively impacting nearby businesses.” The motion won’t do anything on its own but will empower the mayor to go to the province requesting reforms. The upshot: London is not alone in wanting to see changes to the private safe supply program — in Ottawa, there’s been a push to have the province investigate New Dawn Medical’s business practices, which one MPP alleges includes doctors prescribing opioids through iPad video visits and prescribing drugs in large enough amounts that some patients are re-selling the excess. The whole issue is a political third rail, though. Many are dead set against the safe supply programs in the first place, although Ferreira’s motion only concerns the pharmacy model. From a health care system perspective, opioid deaths have been declining, and experts with the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network have found that the safe supply has “reduced opiate toxicities, emergency department visits […] and deaths.” But the province also doesn’t want to get too involved in a politically controversial program, preferring to keep it at arm’s reach and provided through partners like New Dawn Medical. So, everyone is in a bit of a bind here — the choices for the province are to restrict the safe supply model, and very likely risk reversing the trends in overdose statistics, or get more involved in something it doesn’t really support. All the city can do, really, is try to make the case for more oversight. “Advocacy is the tool that we need to use to make change here,” said Mayor Josh Morgan. Read more: CBC News London | London Free Press | | | Job fair draws large crowd contending with tough job market The London and Area Works Job Fair took place this past Tuesday, drawing a crowd of around 1,800 as the city deals with a 9.1 per cent unemployment rate — the highest in Canada. The job fair was hoping to fill around 900 jobs, from about 30 companies, including the London Ice Cream Company and Medicom. The job fair got strong demand, with high pre-registration numbers plus day-of walk-ins. “I’ve spoken to people graduating from high school and looking for summer work,” Christine Wilton, director of workforce development at London Area Works, told The London Free Press. “I’ve also spoken with people who have retired and are looking for a different opportunity for that second phase of their lives.” The upshot: “Job fair draws large crowds” is not necessarily the best headline, but if there’s an optimistic read on it, it’s that amid the completely busted online job search process, both the employer and candidate sides seem to recognize the value in face-to-face recruiting. “I feel it makes a difference, I really like it,” one jobseeker told the CBC News London. Wilton added that “nothing beats a face-to-face conversation and contact directly with employers.” Read more: CBC News London | London Free Press | | | City pitches business recycling backup plan The city is proposing a recycling collection pilot program for local businesses left without blue bin collection as a result of provincial changes. Earlier this year, responsibility for residential blue bin collection shifted to a producer-run non-profit called Circular Materials, but it meant that 535 businesses and non-profits located on residential collection routes ended up losing their blue bin pickup service. Now, the city is planning to open three of its existing EnviroDepots to recycling drop off, free of charge for businesses. The cost to the city, staff estimated, would be between $100,000 and $300,000. The city is hoping this will serve as a useful service bridge while it lobbies the province to tinker with the new system to figure out how to close the service gaps. “Regulations can change, and I think there’s a discussion to happen,” Mayor Josh Morgan told The London Free Press. “What you see is municipal council trying to support businesses in our community who are trying to transition from one state to the other.” The pilot program will go to council next week for final approval, and if approved will run at least until the end of next year. The upshot: The provincial changes to the blue bin program have been a headache for businesses and the councillors representing business districts. Councillor Susan Stevenson wasn’t happy, that’s for sure. “I struggle with going back to businesses and saying, ‘The province saved us $3 to $4 million a year on blue box, but we already put our money to our mill rate, and so sorry, we’re just going to have to let you suffer with this,’” she said at a recent committee meeting. “It’s hard to say no to what’s before us, but it’s really a little more than nothing.” City staff had recommended against the more robust option of setting up a municipal blue bin collection service for businesses, largely because of cost (around $2.8 million annually) and difficulty scaling it up. But there’s support from various quarters of the small business sector for this, since the disruption had been a challenge for some. “Every other Friday I have had to take a 4×8 trailer and pick up full of cardboard out to [the Waste Connections] facility, drive over their scales, unload in their barn and reweigh on the way out, just as their large trucks do,” wrote Tim MacMillan, owner of Quarter Master Natural Foods, in a letter to council. “This process has been a necessary evil to stay true to this belief system, though it takes at least an hour of my time, which could be spent in better ways, attending to my business. I understand the provincial component to this issue, but is this not the kind of service my taxes should be covering?” Read more: London Free Press | | | The Cincinnati Bengals are coming to town Break out the Skyline chili — the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals are coming to Joe Kool’s on Saturday afternoon to unveil one of their 2026 draft picks. The 2026 draft kicked off last night (it’s a weekend-long affair) and is being held in Pittsburgh, but teams also integrate remote, symbolic locations into their draft announcements. “Every once in a while, something unbelievable happens,” Kool’s manager, Cris Cervoni, told The London Free Press. “Nothing really shocks me down here.” The big moment being celebrated here is a fourth-round pick, maybe not high drama, but a drinkable occasion nonetheless. According to a Kool’s Facebook post, there will be free food, drinks and signed Bengals merch. The upshot: So, how did Joe Kool’s become a remote go-to for the Bengals? Well, the fact that the team’s starting running back, Chase Brown, is a London native likely played a part (Brown’s twin brother, Sydney, is also an NFLer, playing defensive back with the Atlanta Falcons). But according to Free Press, there’s more to it: The team was first alerted to the bar’s presence a few years back when they Googled “Joe Cool,” their quarterback Joe Burrow’s nickname. That discovery led to a Bengals-themed watch party at the bar last year. Now, they’re kicking it up a notch with the draft announcement. “They have been here, but this draft thing came out of nowhere,” said Cervoni, “which is very cool.” Read more: London Free Press | | | Dispatch: April 24, 2026 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |