Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Wed. April 15th, 2026

Are you concerned about the local business landscape in Canada’s Capital? The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is raising the issue in a brand-new report, aptly titled ‘Canada’s Entrepreneurial Drought: The Shrinking Business Landscape’. That doesn’t scream optimism, does it? In fact, for a stunning 6 consecutive quarters, it finds that more businesses are closing rather than opening. And out of the local business owners they polled for this survey, 55 percent of respondents wouldn’t recommend starting a small business right now. Kristy Cameron digs deeper with Michelle Auger in Hour 1. She is the CFIB’s Director of Trade and Marketplace Competitiveness. Meantime, new documents show that the Ontario government plans to add over 6,000 new jail beds by 2050. These findings were obtained through a Freedom of Information request by University of Ottawa researchers, who are calling it an ‘unprecedented expansion’ of provincial jails. Premier Doug Ford is defending that plan, and insists that the billions of dollars in costs are worth it. CFRA’s Andrew Pinsent has more on that. But first, we bring you up to speed on today’s top headlines.