✈️ NOTL finally has an airport connection. Someone missed a stop on day one.

☀️ Good morning NOTL. Here's what's in today's issue:

— NOTL News Crew

The Jazz Festival landed in NOTL this week, and if you needed a reason to be somewhere other than your couch on a Friday night, Bossa Nova in the Vines at Reif Estate Winery tonight is a pretty good one. Four hours of piano jazz on the Niagara River Parkway, food on site, wine poured. It's a specific kind of summer NOTL evening that doesn't really exist anywhere else, and the festival runs through Sunday.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the Niagara District Airport is quietly becoming something it hasn't been before: useful. Air Canada launched a bus connection to Pearson two weeks ago. A few details on that below, including the part where the driver missed the first stop.

Something shifted at the Niagara District Airport on June 15.

Air Canada Landline launched its Niagara service that Monday, a bus connection that lets you check in your bags at the local airport, board a bus to Toronto Pearson, and connect to any Air Canada flight from there. It sounds like a logistics footnote, but for anyone who's dreaded the drive to Toronto with summer traffic or World Cup crowds on the QEW, it's a real change.

Here's how it works. The bus leaves from Niagara District Airport three times a day: 5:30 a.m., 11:20 a.m., and 4:05 p.m. Each departure also has a pickup at the Marriott on the Falls in Niagara Falls 40 minutes earlier. You check in at Air Canada's office inside the terminal, tag your bags, and the bags follow you through to your final destination. Parking at the airport is free with no time limit. Landline's site says up to two weeks.

On day one, the 11:20 a.m. bus headed toward Pearson before doubling back to pick up passengers at the airport. Travellers boarded about 45 minutes late. But there was no scramble. Staff kept people updated, and the schedule had buffer time built in before flights. No one missed a connection.

The bigger question isn't whether the bus runs on time. It's whether enough people figure out they can book Niagara as the start of an Air Canada trip at all. That's the challenge the airport CEO, Dan Pilon, named plainly: "Getting the rest of the world to know how to book through Niagara."

The Town of NOTL, Niagara Falls, and St. Catharines each committed up to $125,000 from accommodation tax funds to underwrite the service's launch, $375,000 combined, drawn only if ridership falls short. That's a meaningful bet on a service that's starting with five passengers on its first bus.

For context: the Kingston route launched in September 2025, has had to draw on its revenue guarantee, but ridership has trended up each month. By May it doubled from two daily trips to four. Niagara is three months behind that curve.

The next piece of the transit puzzle is even more ambitious. Hoverlink, the company proposing a 30-minute hovercraft ride between Port Weller and Toronto across Lake Ontario, says it expects final terminal permitting by the end of 2026. Service is still targeted for 2028. That would be a direct water crossing with no highway involved.

Both stories are pointing at the same thing: the way in and out of Niagara is finally being treated as a problem worth solving. Whether the solutions materialize at the pace promised is a different question. But the airport having a live Air Canada connection right now, today, is real.

To book, search Air Canada flights departing from "Niagara District Airport (YCM)."

Mississagua Street is getting a full rebuild, starting this summer The Town approved an additional $1.25 million this week to replace a deteriorating sewer beneath Mississagua Street before reconstruction begins. The street from Mary Street to Queen Street, a 1.27-kilometre stretch that funnels traffic into Old Town, is getting a full overhaul: road reconstruction, watermain, storm sewer, streetlights, bike lanes, and a new sidewalk. The sewer turned out to be in worse shape than the design phase anticipated. Construction starts this summer or fall, running through next spring. Plan accordingly.

St. Davids townhouse plan stalls at council The developer behind Tawny Ridge Estates came to council last week asking to swap 20 approved condo townhouses for 18 freehold on-street townhouses on a block near Chestnut Avenue, a change driven by a condo market that isn't moving. Council split 4-4 and the zoning amendment didn't pass. The sticking point: stormwater. St. Davids has been dealing with flooding pressure for years, and several councillors, including Coun. Gary Burroughs, weren't ready to approve new density until the system's capacity is better understood. The file comes back at the next meeting. Council can either reject the plan outright or propose modifications.

A 58-room hotel at Strewn Winery? There's a public meeting on that. A corporate entity, MPI Group, has filed an Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment (OPA-03-2026 and ZBA-06-2026) to redevelop the Strewn Estate Winery property at 1339 Lakeshore Road. The proposal would change the land's designation from Agricultural to a site-specific exception, enabling a 58-room resort hotel, luxury spa, and major event space. The application labels this as "farm-stay overnight accommodation" under provincial on-farm diversified use rules. The property is currently listed for sale at $9.5 million, and the application appears to have been filed on behalf of a prospective buyer before any sale closes. An electronic open house runs this Monday, June 29 at 5:00 pm. The public meeting is Tuesday July 7 at 6:00 pm at Town Hall or electronically. If you want standing to appeal any future decision, provincial rules require you to submit written comments or speak at the meeting. Reference files OPA-03-2026 and ZBA-06-2026 and send comments to [email protected].

Hovercraft to Toronto: terminal permit expected by year's end Hoverlink, the company behind the proposed 30-minute Lake Ontario hovercraft crossing from St. Catharines to Toronto, says final permitting for its South Shore waterfront terminal is expected by late 2026. The service is 180-passenger hovercraft, 48 crossings a day, year-round, still targeted for a 2028 launch. No ticket prices confirmed yet, though the company says fares will be "comparable to existing transit options," which it pegs at about $42 round trip by bus and train. The project is privately funded and hasn't received direct government support. Worth following.

Council adopts plan to close NOTL's $13M infrastructure gap. Your bills will reflect it. NOTL has a $13.08 million annual gap between what it spends on infrastructure and what it needs to spend to keep things from deteriorating. Council backed a funding plan June 17 and formally adopted it at Monday's meeting. Here's what it means in practical terms: an estimated 1.5 per cent annual increase on the tax levy for roads and general assets. Stormwater gets more aggressive treatment, 4.3 per cent annually toward full optimal funding over 20 years. Water and wastewater go to full optimal funding faster, over five years, at roughly 1.9 and 0.6 per cent annually. None of this locks in specific budget decisions yet. The full plan comes back to council for approval in September or October. But Coun. Erwin Wiens said it plainly at the June 17 meeting: "We gotta fix our roads, our infrastructure, our culverts, our ditching, all of that stuff." He added: "We better buckle up for the next budget."

The Backyard Spa Project was founded by Josh and Natalie Hillinger, alongside their daughter Sage, with a simple belief: wellness should feel welcoming, social, and something people genuinely look forward to.

After years spent creating memorable experiences in hospitality, Josh and Natalie set out to introduce contrast therapy to the Niagara community in a way that feels inviting rather than intimidating. Contrast therapy simply means alternating between the heat of a sauna and the cold of a plunge. It's a practice that can help reduce stress, support recovery, improve mood, and leave you feeling refreshed. Through their signature Sauna Socials experience, guests are guided through wood-fired sauna sessions, cold plunges, breathwork, and intentional moments to slow down, reconnect, and enjoy the experience together.

Following a successful spring residency at Ravine Vineyard, The Backyard Spa Project is spending the summer at Palatine Hills Estate Winery, where they're hosting Sauna Socials every Saturday and Sunday. The experience has become a unique weekend destination for locals and visitors looking to unwind, connect, and experience the benefits of contrast therapy in the heart of Niagara wine country. (Click the link to learn more.)

In addition to their public events, The Backyard Spa Project designs and builds custom traditional Finnish saunas for homes, cottages, wineries, and commercial spaces throughout the Niagara Region, helping more people bring the authentic sauna experience into their everyday lives.

It's more than a sauna. It's a place to disconnect from the noise, reconnect with yourself and the people around you, and leave feeling better than when you arrived.

Niagara now has a bus to Pearson. A hovercraft is in the works. Mississagua Street is getting rebuilt. The conversation about how people get in and out of this town is suddenly moving.

What's the one transportation or infrastructure fix that would most improve your day-to-day life in NOTL?

Reply to this email. Best answers run next week.