TORONTO, Aug. 31, 2026 /CNW/ — Unifor applauds the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)’s decision to proceed with developing rules that will ensure Canadian programming is available and visible on online streaming services. At the same time, the union is also calling on the federal government to also immediately move ahead with implementing the contributions requirements for digital streamers.

The Commission’s decisive move comes after the issue played a significant role in ending trade talks with the U.S.

“Global streaming companies that profit from Canadian audiences must also contribute to the Canadian broadcasting system and help audiences find Canadian stories,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

The CRTC has said it will move forward with regulatory proceedings to determine how individual streaming services will be required to will be required to promote and make Canadian programming discoverable to users. The process implements the Online Streaming Act, which requires streaming services operating in Canada to support access to Canadian programming, including French-language content.

“Strong, enforceable and transparent discoverability rules are essential,” added Payne.

“Canadian content cannot be technically available but effectively buried. The rules must lead to meaningful visibility for Canadian productions and create more job opportunities for the skilled workers who make them.”

Unifor’s media sector has advocated for years for enforceable federal policies to address the crisis facing Canada’s media landscape, including the Digital Services Tax, the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act. These measures were intended to ensure companies benefiting from access to the Canadian market contributed to the system that supports Canadian stories, journalism and media jobs.

The union continues to support the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act.

Unifor is urging the federal government and the CRTC to move ahead without delay in implementing the contribution requirements for digital streamers as per the Online Streaming Act, ensuring the final framework includes clear obligations, measurable outcomes, and effective enforcement.

The union will continue to advocate for rules that strengthen Canadian and Indigenous production, protect Canada’s cultural sovereignty, and encourage and sustain good jobs across Canada’s media sector.

Unifor represents more than more than 9,000 media workers in Canada, who perform a diverse range of jobs, including: journalists, printers, advertising representatives, newspaper carriers, video editors, camera operators, technicians, writers, producers, editorial researchers, maintenance workers, on-air talent, stage and film crewmembers, production assistants, website developers, editors and publishers.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

SOURCE Unifor

New practice gives clients a measurable path to being recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, and Perplexity, and it is built for AI, not retrofitted from SEO

NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Global Communication Works (GCW), the strategic public relations and communications agency, today announced the formation of SignlLabs™, its proprietary AI Signaling practice. SignlLabs gives GCW clients a dedicated methodology for earning visibility and recommendations across leading artificial intelligence platforms, extending the agency’s four decades of earned media expertise to how brands are discovered today.

“For nearly 40 years, GCW has built our clients’ reputations one relationship, one story, and one placement at a time. SignlLabs is the natural next chapter,” said Suzy Ginsburg, Founder and CEO of GCW. Consumers no longer stop at a search engine. They are asking AI platforms for recommendations and answers, and brands need a real strategy to show up there, not a retrofit of old SEO tactics. That is exactly what we built.”

Search engine optimization earns a ranking on a page of links. Answer engine optimization (AEO) earns the snippet an AI reads back. AI Signaling earns the recommendation itself. The gap matters because an AI does not simply answer the question it is asked. It quietly splits a single prompt into roughly five hidden research queries, then composes an answer from the sources it trusts most, which are overwhelmingly earned with third-party endorsements, not a brand’s own website.

Built from the ground up rather than adapted from existing search practices, SignlLabs pairs GCW’s earned media strategy with a dedicated AI recommendation framework, measuring performance across the five platforms most consumers now turn to for answers: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity AI. The practice is led by Erika Hanafin Austria, who will work alongside GCW President, Brad Ginsburg and account teams to embed AI Signaling into future client campaigns.

“SEO is about being the answer. AI Signaling is about being the recommendation,” said Erika Hanafin Austria. “When someone asks an answer engine who or what brand is best, the platform runs its own research behind the scenes and names the brands it trusts. That trust lives in earned media, not on a brands homepage. SignlLabs is built for how AI decides, not bolted onto old search tactics.”

Today GCW measures success across both traditional and AI channels, tracking impressions, reach, and engagement alongside AI recommendation lift, so clients see the full picture of how a campaign performs and reaches audiences wherever they get their news and their answers.

SignlLabs is already embedded in GCW campaigns across the agency’s women’s health, consumer health and lifestyle client roster, and the practice will be central to new business pursuits going forward.

For more information about SignlLabs and GCW, visit signllabs.ai. or GCW.AGENCY.

About Global Communication Works (GCW)

GCW is a strategic public relations agency serving clients across women and men’s health, consumer packaged goods, wellness and lifestyle, law and energy. Services span earned media, crisis and reputation management, influencer strategy, film and production, events, media training and AI Signaling. For more information, visit gcw.agency.

About SignlLabs
SignlLabs™ is GCW’s proprietary AI Signaling practice, built to help brands earn visibility and recommendations across leading AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, and Perplexity. The practice pairs its Signaling Maturity Score™ framework with strategic growth advisory and is available for license by public relations firms, advertising agencies and web development companies for use with their own clients. For more information, visit signllabs.ai.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gcw-agency-launches-signllabs-a-proprietary-ai-signaling-practice-built-to-earn-brand-visibility-across-artificial-intelligence-ai-platforms-302865257.html

SOURCE GCW Partners, LLC

RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hyper, a U.S.-based digital infrastructure partner redefining how mission-critical solutions are designed, built, delivered, and serviced, has appointed Bernardo Perez as Vice President of Engineering. Bernardo will lead Hyper’s engineering organization, advancing product development, engineering capabilities, and technical innovation as the company continues to scale its portfolio and manufacturing network.

Bernardo brings more than 25 years of engineering and product development leadership experience across the electrical, industrial, and manufacturing sectors. His background spans new product development, engineering transformation, technology strategy, manufacturing systems, talent development, and the creation of engineering processes designed to support growth at scale.

Most recently, Bernardo served as Vice President of Engineering at Columbus McKinnon Corporation, where he helped drive growth through new product development while strengthening engineering career paths, process governance, and technical capabilities. He also contributed to the development of the company’s broader technology roadmap, connecting engineering priorities with long-term business and product strategy.

Prior to Columbus McKinnon, Bernardo spent more than 20 years with Schneider Electric, where he held engineering leadership roles focused on the development of circuit protection, motor control, and electrical distribution components and equipment. Throughout his tenure, he led product development teams responsible for bringing electrical technologies from concept through commercialization while supporting the quality, performance, and scalability required for critical electrical applications.

Earlier in his career, Bernardo worked with Delphi Automotive Systems, then part of General Motors, where he developed and delivered manufacturing systems supporting automotive production.

Bernardo will focus on strengthening the engineering foundation behind the company’s next stage of growth. He will lead efforts to accelerate product development, expand engineering capabilities, strengthen technical standards and processes, and further connect engineering with Hyper’s manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and technology organizations.

“What attracted me to Hyper is the opportunity to put engineering even closer to the customer,” said Bernardo Perez. “The power and cooling requirements of digital infrastructure are changing rapidly, and solving those challenges requires engineering teams that can move quickly from customer need to design to production. I’m excited to help build that capability at scale.”

“Engineering is fundamental to our ability to co-innovate with customers and turn increasingly complex requirements into scalable solutions,” said Vladimir Gulkarov, CEO of Hyper. “Bernardo brings deep electrical product expertise along with the experience to build engineering organizations and processes for scale. His leadership will help us accelerate innovation while maintaining the technical rigor and quality our customers expect from Hyper.”

Bernardo holds engineering degrees from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University, and an MBA from the University of Iowa.

With Bernardo Perez’s appointment, Hyper continues to strengthen the engineering leadership needed to support its next stage of growth. His experience will help advance the product development, technical capability, and customer-centered solutions required as power, cooling, and infrastructure demands continue to evolve for the Intelligence Economy.

About Hyper:

Hyper is a U.S.-based digital infrastructure partner redefining how mission-critical data center solutions are designed, built, delivered, and serviced. Through a technology-enabled platform and distributed manufacturing ecosystem, Hyper co-innovates with customers to deliver high-quality, scalable electrical and integrated solutions with speed, transparency, and unconstrained capacity. By connecting engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and service through real-time data across the full product lifecycle, Hyper enables smarter decisions, greater visibility, and confident growth by putting customer success at the center of everything we build. Learn more at https://hyper.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hyper-appoints-bernardo-perez-as-vice-president-engineering-302865259.html

SOURCE Hyper Solutions, Inc