Peterborough Blogs
Canadian Flight Academy Named New Tenant for Peterborough Airport
/Canadian Flight Academy is the newest tenant at Peterborough Regional Airport, with the company starting construction of a new facility at the airport in 2025.
Photo by David Tuan bui.
The new flight school will contribute positively to the local economy, generating 50 direct jobs and an estimated $20 million in Gross Domestic Product. The City’s Municipal Operations Department oversees the airport's operation and is committed to ensuring a smooth transition while integrating this new tenant at the airport.
Peterborough Regional Airport will safely integrate the operations of the Canadian Flight Academy into airport activities.
Canadian Flight Academy will enhance Peterborough Regional Airport’s strength as an aviation-related employment hub home to more than 20 businesses that employ about 500 people.
“Attracting this tenant, which is a significant, established employer, is another major milestone for the airport. The Peterborough Regional Airport is much more than transportation infrastructure – it’s a significant employment centre for the broader Peterborough Region,” said Mayor Jeff Leal. “I’m excited to welcome Canadian Flight Academy to our community and I look forward to celebrating when they complete their new facility.”
Toronto Airways, which started offering flight training services from the Buttonville Municipal Airport near Toronto in 1963, purchased the Oshawa-based Canadian Flight Academy in 1998. It moved into a new facility at the Oshawa airport to accommodate the combined operations of Toronto Airways and Canadian Flight Academy in November 2016.
With the move to Peterborough Regional Airport, Canadian Flight Academy will continue to provide enhanced flight training services and create new opportunities for collaboration within the aviation sector.
Peterborough Regional Airport is an aerospace employment hub for the region serving various industry sectors. The airport's 7,000-foot-long runway and supporting infrastructure have been designed to accommodate Boeing 737 series aircraft.
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.
Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Planet Fitness, Laridae, Peterborough County and Business Advisory Centre
/PTBOCanada is delighted to be running the Business Beat columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…
Looking to get in shape for 2025?
Planet Fitness have a new location in the lower level of Lansdowne Place in Peterborough. This 24-hour gym occupies a 17,000-square-foot location where Sport Chek was previously located. It’s a judgement-free zone where everyone can feel at ease, no matter their fitness level. The gym has state-of-the-art equipment and a helpful team. Drop by and check out the new space and see what Planet Fitness has to offer.
Laridae Management Consulting has acquired the book of business of Diatom Consulting Ltd., including its Founder and President, Diane Richard.
This strategic move enhances Laridae’s position as a leader in management consulting for the non-profit sector while extending its expertise into new industries and services. Laridae has been providing management consulting services, with strength in strategy, governance and people engagement for non-profits across Canada since 2012. Diatom Consulting has been providing very similar services including operations management in manufacturing and service businesses since 2014.
Are you interested in a summer student position in local government?
Peterborough County is working with the City of Peterborough, Selwyn Township, and the Municipality of Trent Lakes for a job fair aimed at post-secondary students looking for summer employment opportunities. Drop by the Healthy Planet Arena on Feb. 13 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and find out more about what work opportunities are available, meet the hiring managers, and learn about the benefits of municipal employment.
There’s a new Advisory Suite at Community Futures as part of the Business Advisory Centre.
The Advisory Suite offers a fully furnished, professional space designed to meet the evolving needs of local entrepreneurs. With a state-of-the-art meeting room, a 360-degree camera for integrated meetings and virtual workshops, a collaborative workspace, and a dedicated confidential advisory area, the new suite aims to be a cornerstone of support for the local business community. Drop by 270 George St. N. and see what the Business Advisory Centre can do to support your business.
If you want to have your business featured on the Business Beat or know of a business doing something new and interested, shoot an email to joel@pkchamber.ca.
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.
Peterborough Lakers Partner With Fleming College Students For Business and Marketing Consultation
/As a final project for 39 Fleming College students, they are providing business and marketing consultation for the Peterborough Lakers in a partnership announced at the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame on Friday morning.
Pete Dalliday (right) addresses the Fleming Students during a Q&A session. Photo by David Tuan bui.
The students are from the General Business program within Fleming College’s School of Business and IT Applied Projects class. The collaboration will run until April for the undergraduate students.
“This collaboration project is to build awareness and sales for the Peterborough Lakers,” said David Swales, program coordinator and professor. “The project itself is to create the strategy and identify deliverables; we’re acting like consultants.”
Students are responsible for conducting research to create a consulting package on how to raise ticket sales and gain sponsorships for the Lakers. Pete Dalliday, Lakers director of community engagement, laid out an overview of the organization’s current status and goals of what they are looking to achieve.
Swales says the students are well-equipped with the tools to effectively help the Lakers reach their goals.
“So many of them have such great social media skills so there’s a lot of expertise they can bring,” he explained.
After the Q&A session, the students were given a tour of the facility and treated to briefly watch an ongoing hockey game at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
Peterborough County Expanding the ‘The Local Advantage to Cavan Monaghan Township to Bring Funding Opportunities
/Peterborough County is expanding the ‘The Local Advantage – With Peterborough County’ event series to bring funding opportunities to one-on-one business consultations in Cavan Monaghan Township.
Photo courtesy of Peterborough County.
The second in-person session is on Feb. 12 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Cavan Monaghan Community Centre Meeting Room, 986 County Road 10, Millbrook.
According to Peterborough County, it will connect with Peterborough County’s Economic Development and Tourism teams, Cavan Monaghan’s Economic Development team and Community Futures Peterborough to help business owners access the insights, support and partnerships for growth.
“Peterborough County is excited to continue the success of our Local Advantage series in the vibrant Township of Cavan Monaghan. In this community, entrepreneurship thrives due to strong local networks, convenient access to larger markets, and a growing population eager to support and benefit from new local businesses,” said Boonie Clark, Peterborough County Warden. “Our Peterborough County Economic Development team is dedicated to connecting business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs with the knowledge, connections, and resources they need to succeed. We look forward to expanding this monthly Local Advantage series and offering additional business services through our Hub and Spoke model across Peterborough County.”
“As our local community continues to grow and the economy changes, it is imperative that our business community have the resources they need to respond to the changing environment,'“ said Matthew Graham, Cavan Monaghan Mayor.
The series in Cavan Monaghan township will continue every second Wednesday of the month at the Cavan Monaghan Community Centre Meeting Room, 986 County Road 10, Millbrook. No registration is required.
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.
Voice of Business: Addressing Ontario’s Family Doctor Shortage: Where Healthcare, Governance, and Business Intersect
/
This week on the Voice of Business, we’re tackling an issue that many in Ontario are familiar with, including right here in Peterborough: the growing shortage of family doctors.
It’s not just about healthcare—this is something that impacts local businesses, the economy, and thousands of people in our community.
Currently about 2.5 million people don’t have access to a family doctor. Locally, it’s estimated that by next year, around 63,000 people in Peterborough will be in the same boat. Municipalities everywhere are struggling to recruit doctors, often competing in what some have compared to a “Hunger Games” style race—where only the communities with the biggest budgets and best incentives can win. Physician recruiting and retaining is thus a multifaceted issue with several intersecting factors that requires focused policy attention.
With a growing number of people without family physicians we can see the effects where this can unintentionally strain local hospitals. A study by Ontario’s Auditor General found that one in five patients goes to the hospital simply because they don’t have a family doctor. This leads to pressure on emergency services, forcing patients with severe medical needs to wait longer while lower-acuity cases backlog the system. It’s a reminder of what happens when there is an unprecedented family physician shortage.
While many municipalities work to compile family physician recruit teams, it remains a challenge as family medicine can be seen as a daunting and unattractive option for medical students. The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) has shed light on this trend: as of 2024, family physicians are paying between 30% and 50% of their income on overhead expenses. For any business owner, seeing nearly half your revenue absorbed into overhead costs is uninspiring—this is no different for family doctors.
The number of family physician vacancies highlight this trend further. Family physician vacancies rose from 30 in 2020 to 108 in 2024. Out of the 560 residency positions for family medicine that year, 108 went unfilled. These vacancies highlight how family medicine is becoming less appealing, not just financially but in terms of workload.
Administrative burdens further exacerbate the issue. Family doctors spend an average of 19 hours per week on paperwork—40% of their total working time. Tasks like processing sick notes consume a large portion of a physician’s work. While the Ontario government has waived the need for sick notes for absences up to three days, many doctors continue to call for their complete removal. This reasoning lies behind the idea that every minute spent on unnecessary paperwork is a minute they could be spending with patients.
Then there’s licensing. Locally, a study from a municipality in Peterborough County found that licensing family physicians can take up to four months. For a region where over 36,000 residents lack a family doctor, streamlining these processes is crucial. Quicker licensing would mean faster access to care and less reliance on overburdened emergency departments.
Peterborough County and the city of Peterborough are doing their part by hiring physician recruitment coordinators to attract more family doctors. Yet, smaller communities like ours face a unique challenge competing with hundreds of other municipalities. Some municipalities such as Bracebridge, St. Catherines and Brockton have attributed this to a “hunger games” approach where the municipality with deeper pockets can present more attractive packages, leaving smaller areas like Peterborough at a disadvantage.
All these challenges point to a bigger issue: the need for decisive government action. While Ontario has made progress—like easing the burden of sick notes for short absences more still needs to be done. Following communication with the city of Peterborough and Peterborough County on their goals to help in recruiting family physicians, the following measures were discussed below:
· Address overhead expenses to make family medicine a more viable and attractive career choice.
· Set fair recruitment standards to create equal opportunities for municipalities to recruit family physicians.
· Streamlining administrative processes to accelerate the timeline for family physicians to receive their licensing to practice.
At the end of the day, family physicians aren’t just healthcare providers—they’re business owners too. Their well-being directly impacts our workforce, employers, and business owners. A stronger healthcare foundation means a stronger community for all of us.
Content provided by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.
Peterborough DBIA Announce Information For Event Support Grant and Application Deadlines
/The Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) has released details for its 2025 Community Event Support Grant and application deadlines.
Photo courtesy of the Peterborough DBIA.
This funding opportunity was developed to help financially support organizers who choose to host their community-minded events in the downtown core, which in turn helps create a lively, vibrant and active urban centre.
The DBIA states that this initiative aims to help foster an inclusive and thriving downtown community by encouraging diverse events that drive economic prosperity and increased foot traffic to the downtown core and also nurture the health of Peterborough’s social fabric by fostering an increase in community engagement.
The Peterborough DBIA will provide financial and in-kind support to selected events that align with their core strategic priorities. The number and extent of grants awarded will be determined by the availability of designated funds and the number of applications that fit the criteria.
The DBIA event priorities are as follows:
Reaching priority and diverse audiences
Engaging the DBIA member businesses including restaurants, shops and services
Bringing economic prosperity to the region, specifically within the BIA district
Encouraging tourism, downtown exploration and increased foot traffic to BIA member businesses
Building community connection to and within the downtown area
Celebrating the unique cultures and identities of downtown Peterborough
The goal of the DBIA event states that its support grant is to empower event organizers to create and host events that encourage repeat visitation and year-round animation in the core by helping to offset costs such as advertising, administrative fees, supply costs, permit and rental fees, for example.
"Our goal is to provide support for event organizers who work to create memorable experiences in our downtown that not only bring economic benefits by increasing foot traffic to the businesses, but also strengthen our overall sense of community and connection,” said Nour Mazloum, DBIA executive director. “We look forward to collaborating with and supporting the visionaries and event planners who also work to create spaces where people feel connected. Together, we can showcase how special and important downtown Peterborough is for the social fabric and health of our community, and also for visitors who will want to choose this region as their destination of choice for enjoying a diverse set of unique and seasonal experiences.”
Applicants who successfully meet the DBIA funding priorities can expect to receive support funds within two weeks of their scheduled event date. If the event requires in-kind support, organizers are asked to coordinate these requests with the DBIA at least two weeks before the event date.
The event support grants will have two deadlines throughout the calendar year for application submissions:
March 1: For events hosted from April 1 to Sept. 30
Sept. 1: For events hosted from Oct. 1 to March 31, 2026
After a submission, the DBIA board will review all applications for the March 1 or Sept. 1 deadlines and decide on funding allocations in the board meeting that directly follows the deadline. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered for funding. All applications must provide the DBIA with a detailed budget outline for their event to be considered.
The event application form can be found at ptbodbia.ca or online.
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.
Community Futures Peterborough Launches New Advisory Suite For Local Entrepreneur Support
/The Business Advisory Centre (BAC) and Community Futures Peterborough (CFP) have officially launched their Advisory Suite to support local entrepreneurs, announced on Monday.
Photo courtesy of Community Futures Peterborough.
The suite is located on the renovated basement level of the Venture North building. It has a fully furnished space equipped with a 360-degree camera device for meetings and virtual workshops, a collaborative workspace and a dedicated confidential advisory area.
“The new Advisory Suite at the Business Advisory Centre will be more than just a meeting space; it’s a haven for creativity, ingenuity, and problem-solving,” says Rose Terry, BAC manager. “Here, we are dedicated to walking alongside entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey—whether starting, growing, or scaling their businesses. This unique expansion of our offices at Venture North are designed to inspire and motivate. It will act as a resource hub with the support needed to turn visions into reality.”
The expansion alleviates the space constraints and enhances CFP’s capacity to deliver tailored support and resources to a rapidly growing number of entrepreneur clients, according to Devon Girard, CFP executive director.
“The Suite reflects our mission to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses by providing them with the advisory services, business programs, and environment they need to succeed,” she said. “It enhances our ability to offer one-on-one guidance and creates a dedicated workshop space allowing for increased collaboration among local business owners.”
Lindsey Irwin, BAC cusiness advisor says the Suite is strategically designed to foster connectivity and accessibility, offering an ideal venue for small workshops, meetings and mentoring sessions.
“We’ve been inundated with business owners, each with unique ideas, hopes, and dreams for their businesses,” she explained. “This space gives them the chance to speak freely and confidentially, fostering genuine conversations and meaningful support.”
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube and LinkedIn. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for our newsletter here.
Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Treblecock Studio, JA-NEO, Forbidden Pleasures and Power Hour
/PTBOCanada is delighted to be running the Business Beat columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…
Treblecock Studio is moving above ground to 157 King Street in downtown Peterborough.
Treblecock offers music, video, and film production. There’s a full podcast studio for those looking for a quiet space with top-notch recording equipment. Podcasts continue to grow in popularity due to the rich, focused content on a small business budget. There’s also the option to do it live on video. It’s not just an ideal studio space, owner David Joyce brings 35 years of experience in media production and works with a talented team of successful industry experts. Drop by Feb. 7 for their grand re-opening.
Some of Peterborough’s most distinguished businesses are being recognized in the 10th annual induction to the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame.
New inductees include:
Darrell Junkin, Craftworks at the Barn
Toni and Kelli Grady, Grady Feet Essentials
Grant Seabrooke, Machine Dynamics Ltd.
Matt Holmes and Michael Riseley, Holmes Riseley LLP
Donnell Leahy, Natalie McMaster and Julia Leahy, Natalie Donnell Entertainment
Margo and Paul Hudson, Jo Anne’s Place Health Foods
Nancy Wiskel, Dan Joyce Clothing
Martin and Kelly Carbajal, La Mesita Restaurante
Drew Merrett, Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre
Diane Richard, Diatom Consulting
Raj Patel, Ennismore Foodland
Peter, Rita, Michael, Eric and Graeme Eatson, Peterborough Volkswagen
Tickets are available at ja-neo.org for the May 29 awards night at The Venue.
Forbidden Pleasures is closing its doors after Valentine’s Day following 35 years of business here in our community.
They have already closed their Market Square and Oshawa locations, but deals can still be had at the Brookdale Plaza store. Forbidden Pleasures was a groundbreaking venture as city’s first boutique-style adult store.
Power Hour, one of the Chamber’s signature events, is coming up on Feb. 21.
It’s your chance to hear from Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal, County Warden Bonnie Clark, MPP Dave Smith, and MP Michelle Ferreri as they take questions on local business issues. This lunch hour event is at The StoneHouse Hall with doors opening at 11 a.m. Get your tickets at pkchamber.ca.
If you want to have your business featured on the Business Beat or know of a business doing something new and interested, shoot an email to joel@pkchamber.ca.
Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.
JA-NEO Unveils Class of 2025 Business Hall of Fame Inductees
/Junior Achievement of Northern and Eastern Ontario (JA-NEO) has revealed this year’s exceptional business leaders into the class of 2025 10th Annual JA-NEO Business Hall of Fame (BHF), announced at the Venture North Building on Wednesday morning.
Toni and Kelli Grady; Donnell Leahy, Natalie McMaster and Julia Leahy and Margo and Paul Hudson were absent from the event. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The nominees are being inducted at an event at The Venue on May 29. Each year, JA-NEO highlights nominees and their contributions that have significantly impacted the local business landscape, according to a press release.
“JA-NEO is excited to unveil the 10th annual class of inductees to join our ever-growing Business Hall of Fame as we mark our 10th induction ceremony this May,” said John McNutt, JA-NEO CEO and president. “As we celebrate 10 years of our Business Hall of Fame, we are thrilled to welcome our biggest class yet who are helping to inspire and show local youth that starting their own business can be rewarding and last multiple generations much like the business leaders being honored today.”
The 2025 JA-NEO Business Hall of Fame Inductees for Peterborough are:
Darrell Junkin, Craftworks at the Barn
Toni and Kelli Grady, Grady Feet Essentials
Grant Seabrooke, Machine Dynamics Ltd.
Matt Holmes and Michael Riseley, Holmes Riseley LLP
Donnell Leahy, Natalie McMaster and Julia Leahy, Natalie Donnell Entertainment
Margo and Paul Hudson, Jo Anne’s Place Health Foods
Nancy Wiskel, Dan Joyce Clothing
Martin and Kelly Carbajal, La Mesita Restaurante
Drew Merrett, Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre
Diane Richard, Diatom Consulting
Raj Patel, Ennismore Foodland
Peter, Rita, Michael, Eric and Graeme Eatson, Peterborough Volkswagen
