Grey Bruce Business Watch: MacDonnell Fuels sold to McDougall Energy, and the regional jobless rate edges up

Grey Bruce Business Watch is a weekly look at businesses opening, closing and hiring around Grey and Bruce counties. Every item comes from an official source, such as a municipality, a county or the business itself, and has been checked against a second source. No business paid to be included.

MacDonnell Fuels is now McDougall Energy

McDougall Energy, a family-owned fuel and propane company based in Sault Ste. Marie, has bought MacDonnell Fuels, a family-owned fuel and propane distributor that the companies say has served Grey and Bruce counties for more than 60 years. The purchase took effect Nov. 2, McDougall Energy announced. Financial terms were not disclosed, Bayshore Broadcasting reported.

MacDonnell Fuels customers are moving to McDougall Energy, and the business will keep operating from its existing office on Highway 6 and 10 south of Owen Sound, in Georgian Bluffs, under the McDougall Energy name, the company says. The company says the local team is staying on, and home heating oil, propane, cardlock, lubricant, diesel and gasoline services and deliveries will not change.

Regional unemployment rate rises to 3.8 per cent

The unemployment rate in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region, which includes Grey and Bruce counties, rose 0.2 percentage points to 3.8 per cent in October, the Four County Labour Market Planning Board reported on Nov. 6. It is still the second-lowest rate in Ontario. The provincial rate fell to 7.2 per cent. Both figures are not adjusted for seasonal changes.

Total employment in the region fell by 2,900 to 161,800. Full-time jobs fell by 3,200 and part-time jobs rose by 200, the board said. The figures come from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, which reports regional numbers as three-month averages.

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Know of a business opening, closing or hiring in Grey or Bruce? Tell us at the Banner. We'll check it against an official source before we include it. Inclusion in Business Watch is editorial and is never paid.

Sources: McDougall Energy news release, Nov. 2, 2026, and MacDonnell Fuels transition page; Bayshore Broadcasting, Nov. 5, 2026; Four County Labour Market Planning Board, Nov. 6, 2026; Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, October 2026.

Photo: Andre Carrotflower / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.