The Week in Canadian Press Releases: 10 Stories You Need to See

A roundup of the most newsworthy press releases from Cision Distribution this week

TORONTO, Dec. 15, 2023 /CNW/ - With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on Cision. To help journalists and consumers stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a recap of some major stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

Cision Canada - The Weekly Round-Up (PRNewsfoto/Cision Canada)

1. Urgent Action Needed From Ontario Government to Address Critical Staffing Crisis in Community Health Sector 
   The community sector is more than $2 billion behind on wages, compared to their peers doing similar work in hospitals and other sectors. This is despite the fact that community health care requires a specialized skillset due to highly complex patients often facing multiple severe and chronic conditions, often 24/7 service delivery responsibilities and obligations, and limited resources relative to hospitals. The community health workforce encompasses a range of essential health care roles, including nurses in primary care, addiction and social workers in mental health organizations, and personal support workers in home and community care, long-term care among others.
2. WestJet adds direct connectivity between Seoul and Calgary to summer 2024 schedule 
   "It is with great pleasure that WestJet will serve as Alberta's only direct link to South Korea, furthering our 787 global connectivity from our home city of Calgary. Beyond creating greater two-way tourism opportunities, WestJet service between Seoul and Calgary will increase connectivity between Western Canada and Asia generating unique business and cargo opportunities," said John Weatherill, WestJet Group Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "We saw tremendous success with the launch of service to Asia last summer and anticipate our entry into Seoul will be warmly welcomed by Canadians."
3. Porter Airlines sees strength in East Coast, increases capacity on three Halifax routes 
   The Halifax-Ottawa route will have three daily, roundtrip flights. St. John's and Montréal will operate with two daily roundtrips, increasing to three daily in May. The routes are currently operated with the 78-seat Dash 8-400. The Embraer E195-E2 seats 132 passengers in an all-economy cabin. With a two-by-two configuration on both aircraft types, there are no middle seats on any Porter flight. Passengers will continue to receive the elevated level of service they are used to when flying with Porter, including free wine and beer served in glassware and premium snacks. This generosity continues on the Embraer E195-E2, and also includes free, fast WiFi for all passengers.
4. York University Staff Association (YUSA) calls for reforms in wake of Auditor General's report 
   The Auditor General's report revealed that the university has increased spending on senior management by over 47%, in the last five years, while staff salaries have increased by only 1% per year for the past three years.  While the numbers of managers have swelled to unprecedented levels, there has been no increase in the overall number of YUSA full-time support staff in the last five years, and as a result many frontline staff are complaining of overwork and burnout. "The Auditor General's report should be a wake-up call that the university has become far too management heavy resulting in inadequate levels of frontline staffing," said Sonny Day, President of the York University Staff Association.
5. Canopy Growth Announces Effective Date of Share Consolidation 
   The Consolidation was approved by the Company's shareholders at the annual general and special meeting of shareholders held on September 25, 2023. The Consolidation is subject to approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") and is expected to become effective on December 15, 2023 (the "Effective Date"), with the post-Consolidation Common Shares commencing trading on the TSX and the Nasdaq at market open on December 20, 2023, subject to final confirmation from the TSX and the Nasdaq. No fractional Common Shares will be issued in connection with the Consolidation. Any fractional Common Shares arising from the Consolidation will be deemed to have been tendered by its registered owner to the Company for cancellation for no consideration.
6. SECURE Announces $1.075 Billion Asset Sale to Waste Connections 
   The strategic impact of this Transaction solidifies SECURE's position in the waste management sector. Following the close of the Transaction, the Corporation remains the market share leader of industrial and energy waste infrastructure in western Canada and North Dakota. SECURE's business is expected to continue to deliver robust margins, and a stable cash flow profile underpinned by recurring volumes driven by industrial waste, metals, and energy markets. The Corporation's 2024 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to range from $440 - $465 million, subject to timing of the Transaction close.
7. Indigenous Communities and Tamarack Valley Energy Announce Clearwater Infrastructure Limited Partnership 
   Chief Gilbert Okemow, of Peerless Trout First Nation, commented: "We are excited to be partnering with an industry leader such as Tamarack, where our Indigenous community has the opportunity to participate in a large multimillion dollar business involved in oil and gas transportation and processing on our lands. Our ownership in WWN will provide much needed revenues for Indigenous people for decades, while at the same time giving our people experience in the business community. We are thankful to Tamarack and AIOC for this opportunity and look forward to continuing to build on the success achieved to date."
8. Enbridge Announces $3.1 Billion Sale of its Interests in Alliance Pipeline and Aux Sable 
   "We are pleased to continue our strong track record of surfacing value for shareholders through an ongoing capital recycling program. With this divestiture, we will have raised ~$14 billion since 2018 at attractive valuations," said Pat Murray, EVP and Chief Financial Officer. "Today's transaction reinforces our disciplined approach to capital allocation. We remain committed to optimizing our portfolio, enhancing our industry leading cash flow profile by reducing commodity price exposure, bolstering our financial flexibility, and maintaining a strong balance sheet." As part of the transaction, Pembina, a long-standing partner on Alliance and the current operator of Aux Sable, will also assume operatorship of Alliance. Enbridge will work closely with Pembina to ensure a safe and orderly transition.
9. Air Canada adds Tulum and Charleston to Global Network; Boosts Capacity on Key North American Markets in Summer 2024 as Airline Continues Strategic Network Growth 
   For summer 2024, Air Canada will be serving 120 destinations in Canada, the US and the Caribbean with up to 520 flights every day, translating to approximately 66,000 seats being dispatched, representing an increase of 5% percent North America and Caribbean seat capacity from 2023. "I celebrate this great announcement from Air Canada. Without connectivity there is no tourism, and the two new routes to the new Tulum International Airport, which is ready to receive five million passengers, will boost the arrival of tourists from our second most important source market for international tourists," stated Lic. Miguel Torruco Marqués, Secretario de Turismo, Mexico.
10. Manulife announces $13 billion reinsurance deal, including $6 billion of long-term care, with Global Atlantic 
    Global Atlantic is a highly experienced reinsurer that has two existing reinsurance arrangements with Manulife. The deal is a full risk transfer, and includes significant structural protections, including over-collateralized trusts to hold investment assets. The reinsurance represents an 80% quota share of the ceded LTC blocks and 100% quota share of the other ceded blocks. Manulife will continue to administer all reinsured policies for a seamless customer service experience. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024 and is subject to regulatory approval. The transaction reduces LTC reserves by $6 billion, or 14%, and is expected to reduce the underlying LTC reserve sensitivity to changes in morbidity assumptions by 12%. 

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SOURCE Cision Canada

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