Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | Fanshawe repositions Norton Wolf School
Fanshawe College unveiled a new name for its aviation technology program on Thursday. The school, previously known as the Norton Wolf School of Aviation and Aerospace Technology, is now the Norton Wolf School of Aerospace, Information and Defence Technologies. It has also folded its School of Information Technology into this new defence-focused school. “Today’s aerospace industry extends far beyond aircraft,” said Stephen Patterson, dean of the faculty of science, trades, technology and design. “Innovation increasingly happens where aerospace, information technology and defence intersect.” The new renamed school will have around 2,200 students and 15 programs, collecting the school’s aviation, cybersecurity, AI and digital technologies schools all under one roof. The school last renamed its aviation school in 2021, and also did so in 2016.
The upshot: You can probably think of this as Fanshawe College’s well-timed answer/contribution to the news of the big federal contract for General Dynamics. “We believe we have the ability to create the talent pipeline for the future right here in London,” Patterson told CBC News London. It’s probably a smart move to attract students looking to work in the growing defence sector in the region and province, and the school doesn’t seem to be shy in saying that. “Our job is to make sure that we support the talent pipeline and the supply chains that make Canada strong,” he said. “We absolutely want to be able to deliver high-quality programs with strong value and strong outcomes.”
Read more: CBC News London | | | Shake Shack picks London for its first Ontario drive-thru
Burger lovers will be licking their chops at this news: Shake Shack is expanding into London’s south end, opening a new spot at 3275 Wonderland Road, the chain’s first drive-thru location in the province. The popular U.S.-based burger chain has been expanding into Canada in recent years, and is expecting its London location to open in the first half of 2027, the company said, bringing with it around 100 full- and part-time jobs. “London was chosen because it’s exactly the kind of vibrant, growing community Shake Shack looks for: a place with real neighbourhood energy and a strong sense of local pride,” said Billy Richmond, Shake Shack Canada’s business director, speaking to The London Free Press. Richmond said that car travel in London, particularly in suburban locations like Wonderland Road South, was part of why the company went with a drive-thru location here, a model that hasn’t yet been tested in Canada (though Calgary is getting a drive-thru Shake Shack later this month). “London is a growing community and we really want to meet our guests where they are in every community we join, and car travel is such a big part of getting around London that we thought it’d be a great place to launch our first [Ontario] drive-thru and bring as much convenience to our guests as we can,” he said. Shake Shack Canada plans to reach at least 35 Canadian locations by 2035; London will be number 13. The upshot: Consider this the next phase of Shake Shack’s expansion into Canada, which has thus far been mainly concentrated in the GTA region, starting with its flagship Canadian location at Yonge and Dundas streets (opened in 2024) and expanding with both urban locations in King West and Yonge-Bloor as well as suburban spots up in Vaughan and Mississauga. According to a write-up in Retail Insider, Shake Shack has been willing to be experimental with store formats as it tries to figure out the Canadian market — it has high-traffic restaurants like Yonge and Dundas along with compact mall food court versions in Vaughan and elsewhere. It also had to fight a slight uphill battle as an American chain coming into Canada (slight, because, well, it’s burgers). Richmond was eager to point out that the American-founded chain is “100 per cent owned and operated by Canadians for Canadians,” and that its chicken, beef, dairy and fries are all Canadian-sourced.
Read more: London Free Press | Shake Shack Canada | | | Highview opens intergenerational home in Lucan
Highview Lucan has officially opened the doors of its new intergenerational care home this week, a 53-suite building on Main Street that Highview Residences purchased back in March. The facility is notable in that it is pursuing a unique model of care where residents with a wide spectrum of conditions, from autism to dementia, live together under one roof. “It’s a home,” president Joy Birch said in a press release. “People may need different kinds of support at different points in their lives. They still want a place that feels like theirs.” There’s a great diversity of age, too — according to the press release, people moving in range from some in their 20s to one resident who’s over 100 years old. The wide age ranges of the residents is described by Highview as being a first-of-its-kind model for care, so some of this is likely to be a bit of an experiment. Highview purchased the facility, formerly known as Jake’s House, earlier this year after the charity of the same name that was running it got tied up in an OPP probe into the province’s controversial Skills Development Fund. Highview says its dementia patients will have 24-hour support in a facility called Owens Cottage, while more independent adults will have private suites on less restricted floors that are designed to maintain independence and autonomy. The upshot: It’s great to see this project come to fruition and not be bogged down in the development process — and it’s also good to see that the initial estimate of 51 suites has been nudged upwards to now include 53 suites. Birch said many of the design decisions made as they renovated the facility came from speaking with the families of people set to live there. “Families weren’t describing some extraordinary life,” she said. “They talked about their son or daughter being comfortable, confident, as independent as possible and having their circle of friends. They imagined coming over for dinner and visiting them in their own space. It’s the ordinary moments that make a life.” Highview, in talking up its philosophy for this space, also suggested its location in small-town Lucan might be another asset for the home. “We want the people who live here, and Highview itself, to be part of Lucan,” Birch said. “We are all neighbours, after all.”
Read more: Exeter-Lakeshore Times Advance | Highview Lucan | | | London cracks CBRE’s top five emerging tech markets (again)
London has been named the fifth-best emerging tech market in North America in CBRE’s newest Scoring Tech Talent report, landing behind Huntsville, Alabama, Halifax, Colorado Springs, Colorado and Dayton, Ohio on the firm’s ‘Next 25’ list of up-and-coming markets. More than 19,000 people now work in the city’s tech sector, CBRE said, which has increased by around 16 per cent over the past three years. The commercial real estate firm says smaller tech markets like London offer a chance for companies to expand their footprint and find cost efficiencies without competing head-on in the bigger hubs. London wasn’t alone among mid-sized Canadian cities on the list: Halifax placed second and Winnipeg came in 11th, part of what CBRE called an “unprecedented” showing for Canada, with six cities also cracking the main Top 15 rankings. “Canadian cities are at the forefront of AI adoption,” said Marc Meehan, CBRE Canada’s research managing director. “Having six markets in the Top 15 and eight cities in the Top 50 is impressive for a country our size. Canada has been the dominant growth story for tech talent over the past five years, with many U.S. and Canadian tech firms tapping into the high quality and comparatively affordable talent on offer here.” The upshot: These sorts of reports pointing to London as an emerging tech market have been coming out regularly for a while now — in fact, last year we landed fourth on CBRE’s same list, so make of that what you will. (We were leapfrogged by Dayton, Ohio this year, it seems.) It also looks like our tech sector is contracting somewhat. In 2025, CBRE said London had 20,700 people working in the tech sector — something Mayor Josh Morgan called “a milestone achievement” at the time — but this year we’re down to around 19,000 employees, with our three-year growth rate slipping substantially from 54.5 per cent in 2025 to 16 per cent this year. It’s good to place some of that in context though — London’s rapid population growth has moderated, the tech sector has taken a bit of a bruising both nationally and internationally and the large growth numbers recorded in 2025 would be capturing some of the rapid post-pandemic growth years. Still, reports like this do serve some purpose in helping advertise the city to companies that are potentially looking for somewhere to set up an office or expand, so if they want to put us on a list of emerging markets, you won’t hear much grumbling from anyone in the city.
Read more: CTV News London | CBRE Canada | | | City embraces the ‘River District’
City staff are running with the ‘River District’ branding concept for the stretch of downtown along the Thames, a previously informal name that city hall is now working to make official after it was proposed as one of four major pillars of London’s plan to reimagine its downtown. “It’s really focusing on turning it into a destination where people want to come on a daily basis with a variety of different programming, music, food vendors and that kind of thing,” said Ryan Craven, the city’s core area programs manager, speaking to CBC News London. There’s no official boundary yet, but Craven said it runs roughly from Harris Park to York Street, and from the river to Talbot Street. How the city intends to run with the River District concept and turn it into something real is somewhat of a moving target, but officials say much of the work will happen in collaboration with existing property owners along the river. “It’s working with developers who own property along the riverfront to create and design buildings that complement the river, and working with our Indigenous nations and partners to see how we can interact with the river in an environmentally friendly way,” said Mike Macaulay, the city’s manager of community improvement. For now, the city has started pushing the River District branding where it can — for instance, it launched a River District Movie Nights series at Harris Park, to relatively good feedback, which Craven suggested reflected demand. “People really love this idea,” he said. “They want the river to be this cool, dynamic, exciting place with lots of stuff going on.” The upshot: The city is really running with an idea that came from the businesses in the River District itself. Tricar’s Adam Carapella claimed to have coined the moniker back in 2024, describing the corner around the firm’s Riverwalk luxury rental tower, where commercial tenants include Cornerstone Architecture, District Ice Cream and the London Bicycle Café. “We’re calling this southwest quadrant the river district and it’s becoming a desirable place,” Carapella told The London Free Press in 2024. London Bicycle Café owner Andrew McClenaghan was also one of the first to start pushing the name. “I don’t want to take all the credit,” he said to the CBC. “There’s been a lot of big river boosters in town over the past decade, but it’s always cool to see when your ideas make it into print.” It will be interesting to see how willing or interested the city is in furthering the River District concept — that is, how much money will be put behind it (particularly given the continued struggles other core-area commercial districts continue to grapple with). City staff are expecting to bring forward an implementation plan for the downtown plan later this year, which could include more money and concrete plans for development behind the name.
Read more: CBC News London | London Free Press | | | Western Fair rink celebrates 25 years
The Western Fair Sports Centre is marking 25 years of ice time with 10 days of celebration, as part of this year’s Western Fair. The four-pad arena, well known to just about anyone who’s played or watched youth hockey in this city, opened in 2001 and now averages 42 large events a year. “For 25 years, the Sports Centre has been a place where people of all ages come together to compete, learn, stay active and build lasting friendships,” said Leah Locking, the rink’s facility manager. Celebrations open September 11 with a ceremony on the centre’s front steps, followed by a commemorative game with London police, firefighters, OPP officers and medical workers facing off against one another. The London Nationals play their home opener against the Chatham Maroons on September 12, and there’s a 25-hour skate-a-thon running over three days that’s aiming to raise $25,000 for the Children’s Health Foundation. Also featured as part of the celebration is a travelling Hockey Hall of Fame exhibit that runs September 17 to 19. “This is a significant addition to the value of a Fair ticket,” said Rob Lumsden, the Western Fair’s midway manager. “A family can experience remarkable pieces of hockey history, enjoy interactive games and explore the rest of the Western Fair, all with one $15 advance fair admission or $20 at the door.” The anniversary wraps September 20 with another game, with a group of unnamed NHL alumni facing the London Law Enforcement All Stars in support of Special Olympics Ontario. The upshot: Many fine hockey memories have come from the Western Fair rink over the years. Hearing that it hit a quarter century has this author recounting some of his own time playing in that rink and wondering where all the years went (a vague memory of a two-goal game playing for the Oakridge Aeros in the finals against North London around 2007 stands among the finest of his achievements!). Anyways, long live the Western Fair rink, a fine piece of civic infrastructure and a profitable joint venture that has been managed well over the years.
Read more: London Free Press | Western Fair District | | | Dispatch: August 21, 2026
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