01

Oct

Border-crossing asylum-seekers hit six-year high in Canada

TORONTO, (Reuters) - The number of asylum-seekers entering Canada between formal border crossings has surged to the highest point since the government started tracking them in 2017, as dropped pandemic restrictions enable more travel and conflict and catastrophe displace people in many parts of the world. In the first eight months of 2022, Royal Canadian Mounted Police intercepted 23,358 asylum-seekers crossing into the country at unofficial entry points, 13% more than all of 2017, when an influx of border-crossers at Roxham Road, near the Quebec-New York border, made international headlines. The surge in irregular entries comes as Canada prepares to…

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24

Sep

UPDATED: Powerful storm Fiona hits Canada’s Nova Scotia

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Powerful storm Fiona slammed into eastern Canada on Saturday with hurricane-force winds, nearly a week after devastating parts of the Caribbean. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the center of the storm, now called Post-Tropical Cyclone Fiona, was crossing eastern Nova Scotia, bringing high winds and heavy rains. The storm had weakened somewhat as it travelled north. As of 5 a.m. (0900 GMT), the storm was about 160 miles (255 km) northeast of Halifax, carrying maximum winds of 90 miles per hour (150 kph) and barrelling north at around 26 mph (43 kph),…

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21

Sep

Canada to drop COVID vaccine requirement to enter country on Sept 30

 (Reuters) - Canada's federal government will likely drop its COVID-19 vaccine requirement for people entering Canada at the end of the month, a government source said. The source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was "likely" to drop the vaccination requirement on Sept 30. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported the news earlier on Tuesday. Canada will also drop random coronavirus testing on the same day, and make it optional to use its ArriveCAN app, where travelers have been required to upload their proof of vaccination, the source said. Canadian airports faced…

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17

Sep

More Canadians see monarchy as ‘outdated’ but political risks block change

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A growing number of Canadians do not want a foreign monarch to represent them despite deep historical ties to Britain and affection for the queen, but risks that come with constitutional reform mean there is little political will for change. Britain colonized Canada beginning in the late 1500s, and the country formally remained part of the British empire until 1982. Now it is a member of the Commonwealth of former empire countries that have the British monarch as head of state. Dozens of Canadian city names, like London and Windsor, reflect the enduring ties. But according to…

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14

Sep

Canada PM Trudeau declares holiday to mourn Queen Elizabeth

OTTAWA  (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared Monday, the day of Queen Elizabeth's funeral, a federal holiday to mourn the monarch's death. "On September 19, Canadians from across the country will pay their respects to Canada's longest-reigning sovereign, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II," Trudeau said in a statement on Tuesday. "For most Canadians, she was the only monarch we ever knew and many of us felt a deep affection and appreciation for her dedication to Canada." Monday will be a holiday for all federal government employees. Other employers, including provincial and territorial governments, are not required to…

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08

Sep

New Canadian air rules risk higher costs, fares -airline group

MONTREAL, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Canadian airlines face potentially higher costs as new rules that take effect on Thursday broaden passenger refund requirements to cases of cancelled or long-delayed flights outside of carriers' control, an industry group said. Carriers across North America have cut thousands of flights to reduce disruptions this summer. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), a quasi-judicial tribunal responsible for enforcing the new rules, said in August it received record complaints from passengers after the easing of restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus led to a jump in travel. A group representing the country's largest carriers, including…

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08

Sep

Suspect in Canada stabbing spree dies soon after arrest

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, (Reuters) - The suspect sought by Canadian authorities in a weekend stabbing spree that killed 10 people in and around an indigenous reserve was arrested on Wednesday but suffered unspecified "medical distress" and died a short time later at a hospital, police said. Official word that the four-day manhunt for Myles Sanderson, 30, ended with his death came during a late-night news conference hours after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) reported he had been taken into custody. The RCMP said the arrest took place near the town of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, about 100 km (62 miles) southwest of…

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07

Sep

UPDATED: Suspect in deadly mass stabbings eludes Canadian manhunt, motive remains unclear

OTTAWA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Canadian police searched into a fourth day on Wednesday for the remaining suspect in a stabbing spree in which 10 people were killed in and around an indigenous community, rattling a country unaccustomed to acts of mass violence. Myles Sanderson, 30, whose brother and accused accomplice was himself found slain a day after Sunday's attacks in Saskatchewan province, was briefly believed to have resurfaced on Tuesday in the vicinity of the rampage, about 320 km (200 miles) north of the provincial capital of Regina. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued an alert on Tuesday…

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05

Sep

Canada hunts suspects in stabbing spree that killed 10, wounded 15

WELDON, Saskatchewan, (Reuters) - Canadian police hunted for two suspects in a stabbing spree that killed 10 people and wounded at least 15 others mostly in a sparsely populated indigenous community. The stabbings across 13 crime scenes were among the deadliest mass killings in modern Canadian history and certain to reverberate throughout the country, which is unaccustomed to bouts of mass violence more commonly seen in the United States. "I am shocked and devastated by the horrific attacks today," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. "As Canadians, we mourn with everyone affected by this tragic violence, and with…

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29

Aug

Canada deputy PM Freeland abused in Alberta, Trudeau calls it part of a trend

(Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday condemned an abusive verbal attack on his deputy prime minister and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, which he described as an "extremely disturbing harassment" that was not an isolated incident. "We are seeing increasingly people in public life and people in positions of responsibility, particularly women, racialized Canadians, people of minority or different community groups, being targeted almost because of the increasing strength of your voices," Trudeau said in an address on Sunday.  "We are seeing a backlash.... We have to ask ourselves what kind of country we are, what kind of…

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25

Aug

Canada on track to exceed lofty 2022 immigration target

Canada is on track to exceed its immigration goal of granting permanent residency to more than 430,000 people in 2022, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said. Fraser, speaking to reporters in Vancouver, also announced a plan to hire up to 1,250 workers to tackle a record high number of immigration applicants. Canada, which depends on immigration to drive its economy and support an aging population, has been ramping up annual immigration and has a goal of adding 451,000 permanent residents in 2024. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has relied on immigration to boost the Canadian economy since coming to power in…

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21

Aug

Quebec moves to protect French amid Canada’s shift towards English

New figures show that French language use continues to decline in Canada, including in Quebec, the historically Francophone province, where the number of people whose first spoken language is English now exceeds 1 million. This unprecedented situation comes at a time when efforts to protect French in Quebec are intensifying.  The rate of French language use has fallen in Quebec and almost all of Canada. The Canadian government’s latest figures, published Wednesday, show that the proportion of Canadians who predominantly speak French at home is declining throughout the country, with the exception of the sparsely populated Yukon Territory in the Far…

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17

Aug

Prominent Vatican cardinal named in Canada sexual assault lawsuit -filing

Vatican Cardinal Marc Ouellet is the highest-ranking clergyman accused in a court document in Canada made public as part of a class action lawsuit against the Quebec Catholic diocese alleging sexual assault, the plaintiffs' lawyer said. The lawsuit represents more than 100 people, including minors, who were alleged to have been sexually assaulted by 88 priests and staff working at the Quebec diocese starting in 1940, according to a court document and a news release issued by the Arsenault Dufresne Wee firm which filed the class action. In the filing in Quebec Superior Court, an anonymous complainant alleges Ouellet inappropriately…

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12

Aug

Toronto suffers massive power outage

TORONTO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Power was restored in downtown Toronto after an outage left the offices of Canada's top businesses in the dark, forced the evacuation of one of the city's biggest shopping malls and trapped people in elevators. Hydro One H.TO, Ontario's biggest electricity distribution company, said a barge moving a crane hit three high-voltage transmission lines causing damage to equipment at a power station. "Earlier this evening, Toronto Fire cleared the station allowing our crews to safely reroute and restore power to Toronto Hydro," it said in a statement, referring to the company that distributes electricity in…

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07

Aug

Hate crimes surge in Canada during pandemic

Canada has experienced a sharp rise in hate crimes targeting religion, sexual orientation and race since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released this week by Statistic Canada. Canada, which prides itself as a diverse and welcoming country for immigrants and refugees, has witnessed a 72% jump in its hate crime rate between 2019 and 2021, said Statistics Canada. This increase was partly due to the pandemic, which exposed and exacerbated safety and discrimination issues. Chinese-Canadians reported increased discrimination due to Wuhan, China being the epicentre of the virus. The World Health Organization said in June that…

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04

Aug

Toronto home prices fall for fifth month as ‘significant’ rate hikes dent sentiment

TORONTO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Home prices in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) fell for the fifth straight month in July, as rapidly rising interest rates further doused the city's once-red-hot housing market, data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) showed on Thursday. The average price of a GTA home fell to C$1.07 million ($833,528) in July, down 6.2% from June and 19.5% from February's peak, according to a TRREB statement, but up 1.2% from a year ago. Sales nearly halved from a year ago, compared with only a 4.1% decline in listings. "With the benefit of hindsight, it appears…

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30

Jul

Pope says genocide took place at Church schools in Canada for indigenous children

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, July 30 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday that what happened at residential schools that the Roman Catholic and other Christian Churches ran to forcefully assimilate Canada's indigenous children was genocide. The pope made the comment while flying back to Rome after a week-long trip to Canada, where he delivered a historic apology for the Church's role in the policy. He was asked by an indigenous Canadian reporter on the plane why he did not use the word genocide during the trip, and if he would accept that members of the Church participated in genocide.…

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30

Jul

Pope again asks for forgiveness as tour ends in Canada’s north

Pope Francis again asked for forgiveness after meeting on Friday with residential school survivors in the Arctic territory of Nunavut, the last stop in his six-day visit to Canada to apologize to indigenous people for abuse in government schools run by the Roman Catholic Church. After a private meeting in a small elementary school, Francis said hearing survivors' stories had "only renewed in me the indignation and shame that I have felt for months" at the harm done to them. His plane departed Canada for Rome on Friday evening. Earlier on Friday, the pontiff told indigenous leaders in Quebec City…

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29

Jul

Pope denounces historical oppression of Canadian indigenous

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis told indigenous leaders on his last day of his Canadian visit that he was pained that Catholics had supported "oppressive and unjust policies" against them. The 85-year-old pope met on Friday with an indigenous delegation at the Quebec archbishop's residence before he was due to leave for a brief stop in the Arctic territory of Nunavut, which Canada created in 1999 for the Inuit people. "I have come as a brother, to discover firsthand the good and bad fruit borne by members of the local Catholic family in the course of the years," Francis said. "I have come…

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29

Jul

Thousands of dead migrant seabirds wash up on Canada shore, avian flu suspected

TORONTO, (Reuters) - The carcasses of thousands of migrant seabirds have washed up on the shores of eastern Canada this week and preliminary findings showed that the birds died of avian flu. Since May 2022, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed 13 positive cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the eastern Canadian province of Newfoundland. Environment and Climate Change Canada is conducting more investigations to confirm that the seabirds deaths are linked to avian flu, Peter Thomas, wildlife biologist for the center said. Dead herring gulls, Iceland gulls, common ravens, and American crows are the among the most affected by…

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29

Jul

Protest over 15th-century land grab doctrine interrupts papal Mass in Canada

 (Reuters) - Indigenous activists unfurled a banner demanding Pope Francis rescind 15th-century papal edicts justifying colonialism at a Mass he presided over Thursday, thrusting the doctrine to the forefront of his apology tour of Canada. Two Anishinaabe cousins unfurled a large banner protesting the doctrine of discovery which effectively gave Europeans moral justification for taking indigenous lands. They stood near the front row facing the congregation as the pope was starting Mass in a cathedral outside Quebec City. Most of the people in the church were indigenous. Activists interupt Pope Francis as he leads a mass at the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre,…

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28

Jul

UPDATED: Pope, winding up Canada trip, visits historic churches

QUEBEC CITY, July 28 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Thursday visits two of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in North America as he winds up a trip to Canada centred on his apology for the Catholic Church's role in the country's notorious residential schools. In the morning Francis presides at a Mass at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre in the town of the same name about 30 km (19 miles) outside Quebec City. The oldest Catholic pilgrimage site in North America stands on the site where a small church was built in 1658 to house a statue of St. Anne that…

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27

Jul

Pope: Church must take institutional blame for harm done to indigenous Canadians

LAC STE. ANNE, Alberta, (Reuters) - Pope Francis said the Roman Catholic Church should accept institutional blame for the harm done to indigenous Canadians in residential schools that tried to wipe out native cultures. Francis made his comment during a visit to Lac Ste. Anne, a lakeside pilgrimage site about 70 km (44 miles) west of Edmonton popular with both indigenous Canadian Catholics and those of European origin. Pope Francis participates in a pilgrimage to Lac Ste. Anne, in northern Alberta, Canada. This place, where a Catholic mission was born in 1842, is known to the natives as a place…

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26

Jul

Pope apologizes for ‘deplorable evil’ of Canadian indigenous schools

Pope Francis apologized on Monday to Canada's native people on their land for the Church's role in schools where indigenous children were abused, branding forced cultural assimilation a "deplorable evil" and "disastrous error." Speaking near the site of two former schools in Maskwacis, in Alberta, Francis went even further, apologising for Christian support of the overall "colonizing mentality" of the times and calling for a "serious investigation" of the schools to assist survivors and descendants in healing. "With shame and unambiguously, I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the indigenous peoples," Francis said in the…

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25

Jul

Canada police say several victims in British Columbia shooting

There were several victims of a mass shooting early on Monday in the Canadian province of British Columbia and one man was in custody, police said. Authorities had earlier issued an emergency alert for multiple shootings in the city of Langley and asked residents to stay alert and away from the area of the incident. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesperson said there were "several victims" in the incident. The statement did not specify the number. The spokesperson said there were no further details available when asked how many of the victims were injured and how many were deceased. Another police spokesperson said investigators from the…

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25

Jul

Pope arrives in Canada on tour of ‘penance’ for indigenous abuse

EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) -Pope Francis landed in Canada on Sunday to kick off a week-long trip that will center around his apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the abuse that indigenous children endured at mostly church-run residential schools. "This is a trip of penance. Let's say that is its spirit," the pope told reporters after his flight took off from Rome. The papal plane touched down in Edmonton in the western province of Alberta, where he will visit a former residential school and meet with indigenous peoples on Monday. He is also visiting Quebec City and Iqaluit, the capital of…

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24

Jul

UPDATED: Pope, starting Canada trip, says he has ‘great desire’ to visit Kyiv

EDMONTON, Alberta / ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, July 24 (Reuters) - Pope Francis landed in Canada on Sunday to kick off a five-day trip that will center around his apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the abuse that indigenous children endured at mostly church-run residential schools. "This is a trip of penance. Let's say that is its spirit," the pope told reporters in his traditional comments after his flight took off from Rome. He touched down in Edmonton in the western province of Alberta, where he will visit a former residential school and meet with indigenous peoples…

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24

Jul

Canadian economists say don’t blame COVID for lack of workers

Canada is in the throes of a serious labour shortage, but economists say it's not all the pandemic's fault — it's the inevitable culmination of a seismic demographic shift decades in the making. "It's the slowest-moving train on the planet. It was predictable 60 to 65 years ago, and we have done nothing about it," said Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers. "We knew this transition was going to happen." The numbers behind all those help wanted signs are startling. According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio — a key measure comparing the number of Canadians looking…

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23

Jul

When Pope visits Canada, indigenous people look for healing – and action

When Pope Francis travels to Canada, indigenous leaders and residential school survivors say, they are hoping for more than an apology: They want action. Francis, who will be the first pope in nearly 20 years to visit Canada, said on Sunday he was making a "pilgrimage of penance" to help heal the wrongs done to indigenous people by Roman Catholic priests and nuns who ran abusive residential schools linked to deaths of thousands of children. More than 150,000 children were taken from their homes and many were subjected to abuse, rape and malnutrition in what Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission…

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18

Jul

Sticker shock, border delays sour hopes for Canadian travel boom

OTTAWA, (Reuters) - Rising prices, border restrictions and airport chaos are threatening hopes for a post-pandemic summer travel boom in Canada, stalling a tourism recovery and taking the sheen off the country as a destination, analysts and industry executives say. Tourism spending in Canada remains 34% below 2019 levels despite strong gains over the last year, official data shows. With most COVID-19 restrictions lifted, the Canadian travel industry had hoped 2022 would be the year when domestic tourism at least returned to normal volumes. But gas prices have soared, souring the outlook for road trips. Flying faces its own challenges:…

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17

Jul

Pope hopes Canada trip will help heal ‘evil’ done to indigenous people

(Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday his trip to Canada next week will be a "pilgrimage of penance" that he hopes can help heal the wrongs done to indigenous people by Roman Catholic priests and nuns who ran abusive residential schools. The July 24-30 trip will include at least five encounters with native people as Francis makes good on a promise to apologise on their home territory for the Church's role in the state-sanctioned schools, which sought to erase indigenous cultures. "Unfortunately in Canada many Christians, including some members of religious orders, contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation…

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15

Jul

Canada’s Freeland says Russian technocrats also responsible for ‘war crimes

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, July 15 (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday told Russian officials at a meeting of G20 finance officials that she held them personally responsible for "war crimes" committed during Russia's war in Ukraine, a Western official told Reuters. Freeland directly addressed the Russian delegation taking part in the meeting of the Group of 20 major economies, telling them: "It is not only generals who commit war crimes, it is the economic technocrats who allow the war to happen and to continue," the official said. Freeland, whose maternal grandparents were born in Ukraine, told the…

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14

Jul

WTO awards Canada future right to impose duties on U.S. goods

GENEVA (Reuters) - Canada has the right to impose tariffs on U.S. imports in the future to ward off the threat of the United States penalising Canadian manufacturers for alleged unfair subsidies, the World Trade Organization said. Canada brought a case to the WTO in 2016 over U.S. anti-subsidy duties on Canadian "supercalendered" paper, which is used in glossy magazines and catalogues. A WTO panel in 2018 and a WTO appeals body in 2020 found these duties breached global trading rules, prompting Canada to request the right to impose tariffs on a specific amount of U.S. goods. The WTO typically allows successful…

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10

Jul

Canada’s internet outage caused by router malfunction

 (Reuters) - Rogers Communications  said that its services were close to fully operational after a massive outage it blamed on a router malfunction after maintenance work. The outage at one of Canada's biggest telecom operators shut banking, transport and government access for millions of people. "We now believe we’ve narrowed the cause to a network system failure following a maintenance update in our core network, which caused some of our routers to malfunction early Friday morning," Rogers' Chief Executive Officer Tony Staffieri said in a statement. Canadians crowded into cafes and public libraries that still had internet access and hovered outside hotels to catch a signal on Friday. The…

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06

Jul

Canada swiftly ratifies protocol for Finland, Sweden to join NATO

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada became the first country to formally ratify Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO in an accelerated process completed shortly after member nations signed off on the nuclear-armed alliance's expansion. The accession protocol needs to be ratified by the parliaments of all 30 North Atlantic Treaty Organization members before Finland and Sweden can be protected by the NATO defense clause - that an attack on one member is an attack against all.  Members of Canada's House of Commons had unanimously expressed their support for Finland and Sweden in a vote earlier in June before the chamber closed for a…

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02

Jul

Canada to slap warning labels on sugary, salty and fatty foods

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Foods high in sugars, sodium and saturated fat will come with clear warning labels in Canada starting in 2026, the federal government said this week, in an effort to promote healthier eating choices and reduce chronic health risks. "We know that it's not always easy to make healthy choices," Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters. "We need a quick and easy way of knowing exactly what options are the healthiest." Under the new rules, a magnifying glass label will be required on all packaged foods with high levels of sugar, salt and saturated fat, along with text…

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29

Jun

Two gunmen killed, six officers wounded in shootout at Canadian bank

Canadian police shot dead two men and six officers were wounded during a gunfight at a bank in British Columbia, and nearby homes were evacuated after the discovery of a possible explosive device, police said. Emergency response team members arrived on the scene at the Bank of Montreal in Saanich, on Vancouver Island, near the border with the U.S. state of Washington, around 11 a.m. (1800 GMT), law enforcement said. "This remains an ongoing police incident with a heavy police presence in the area," Saanich police said on their website. "Homes and businesses in close proximity to the scene of…

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22

Jun

Canada MPs given panic buttons as threats increase

Canada's members of parliament will be given panic buttons to call police in an emergency, amid growing harassment, intimidation and threats of violence. The move was announced by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino who has himself received death threats. The "very negative and toxic rhetoric that we see online" was very concerning, he said. Canada's MPs have also been threatened on the streets and last year PM Justin Trudeau was pelted with rocks. Mr Mendicino, who said he was threatened last month after introducing a gun control bill in parliament, said the mobile alarms would add another layer of security…

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18

Jun

Canada seeks to prosecute some extremely intoxicated people who harm others

Canada's federal government introduced a bill to hold some people criminally responsible if they harm someone else while extremely intoxicated. A person could be held criminally responsible if the self-induced extreme intoxication was criminally negligent. The bill follows a Supreme Court ruling last month that said people could claim extreme intoxication as a defence. "Extreme intoxication" is a state akin to automatism in which a person is not acting voluntarily and its use as a defence requires the introduction of expert evidence. Being drunk or high is not a defence to criminal charges in Canada. Under the bill introduced Friday,…

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18

Jun

Quebec focuses on French-speaking immigrants as companies plead for workers

Quebec's plans to attract more French-speaking newcomers are unnerving some business owners who say they need immigrants from varied backgrounds to address a tight labor market in the Canadian province. Unlike other provinces, Quebec gets to choose its economic immigrants. The government previously lowered the number of new permanent residents it brings in, relying more on temporary workers, and says it has increased the francophone share of economic immigrants. Premier Francois Legault's Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) is determined to protect French, which he says is vulnerable in mostly English-speaking North America, ahead of an Oct. 3 election. His government announced…

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15

Jun

Canada to suspend vaccine mandates for domestic travel, civil service

OTTAWA, (Reuters) - Canada will suspend its requirement to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for domestic travel and to work in the civil service from June 20, the federal government said, after provinces lifted most health restrictions in recent months. The requirement was suspended due to Canada's high vaccination rate and a decrease in coronavirus infections, according to a government statement. Some 32 million, or nearly 90%, of eligible Canadians are vaccinated. The mandate was also suspended for people departing from Canada. It may be reinstated later, especially in the case of a surge of a new variant. "While the suspension of vaccine mandates reflects an improved public…

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14

Jun

Canada and Denmark divide small Arctic island, ending ownership dispute

Denmark and Canada will divide the small, uninhabited island in the Arctic known as Hans Island, ending an almost 50-year long ownership spat, in a largely symbolic act of diplomacy designed to avoid tensions in the high North. The two NATO allies have been engaged in a mostly good-natured squabble over the island, situated at equal distance between Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island, since 1971 when their rival claims came to light. Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. It leaves Copenhagen to manage certain policy areas, including foreign and security policy. Canada and Denmark will divide the 1.2 square-kilometre (0.75 square miles) island into…

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12

Jun

Canada accuses China of ‘very concerning’ behaviour in aerial spat

Canada believes China showed "very concerning and unprofessional" behaviour while harassing its patrol aircraft near North Korea, Defence Minister Anita Anand said, but she declined comment when asked whether she had raised the issue with her Chinese counterpart. Speaking on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's premier security meeting, Anand said the issue had been raised through diplomatic channels. Asked whether she had spoken to Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe, who is also at the meeting, Anand said: "I am meeting with a number of counterparts while I am here." Canada's military accused Chinese warplanes this month…

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10

Jun

Canada adds more jobs than expected in May, jobless rate hits record low

OTTAWA, June 10 (Reuters) - The Canadian economy added more jobs than expected in May with the gains entirely in full-time work, while the unemployment rate hit a record low at 5.1%, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday. The net jobs gain of 39,800 in May came in better than analysts' average expectation of an increase of 30,000 jobs, while the jobless rate beat predictions that it would remain flat at 5.2%. "The employment increase was driven by gains in full-time work among young and core-aged women," Statscan said, adding the increase was spread across several industries. The average hourly wages of…

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10

Jun

Canada cracks down on more than C$400 ml in Russian assets, transactions

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian police said they had cracked down on more than C$400 million ($314.81 million) in Russian assets and transactions involving people sanctioned as a result of Moscow's war on Ukraine. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement that from Feb. 24 to June 7, C$123 million of Russian assets in Canada had been effectively frozen and a further C$289 million in transactions had been blocked. It gave no details. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,000 individuals and entities from and in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. In April,…

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02

Jun

Canada says Chinese warplanes harassed its patrol aircraft on N.Korea sanctions mission

SEOUL, June 2 (Reuters) - Canada's military has accused Chinese warplanes of harassing its patrol aircraft as they monitor North Korea sanction evasions, sometimes forcing Canadian planes to divert from their flight paths. On several occasions from April 26 to May 26, aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) approached a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft, the Canadian Armed Forces said in a statement on Wednesday. "In these interactions, PLAAF aircraft did not adhere to international air safety norms," the statement said. "These interactions are unprofessional and/or put the safety of our RCAF personnel at…

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02

Jun

U.S. in talks with Spain, Canada about taking more refugees

The Biden administration is in talks with Spain and Canada about taking more Western Hemisphere refugees for resettlement, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, signaling possible commitments that could be announced at next week's Summit of the Americas. Separate proposals are under consideration by the Spanish and Canadian governments but no decisions have been made, the sources said, as President Joe Biden's aides prepared to seek greater regional cooperation on tackling irregular migration when he hosts fellow leaders in Los Angeles. The Axios news site was the first to report possible migration commitments from Spain and Canada, citing…

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31

May

Canada introduces law to freeze handgun sales, ban look-alike toys

Canada's government introduced legislation Monday to implement a "national freeze" on the sale and purchase of handguns as part of a gun control package that would also limit magazine capacities and ban some toys that look like guns. The new legislation, which resurrects some measures that were shelved last year amid a national election, comes just a week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters the new measures were needed as gun violence was increasing. "We need only look south of the border to know that…

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27

May

Toronto police kill man carrying gun near schools

Toronto police shot and killed a man who was walking down a street carrying a gun in a city neighborhood, an incident that prompted five nearby schools to be placed under precautionary lockdowns, city officials said. Officers responding to a report of an armed man in the area fired after the gunman confronted them, Toronto Police Chief James Ramer said at a media briefing. He declined to give further details, citing an ongoing investigation. Earlier on Twitter, Toronto police said officers had fired and the suspect, described as a male in his late teens or early 20s, was injured. The…

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20

May

U.S. targets a second Abramovich plane, Canada imposes additional sanctions on Russian oligarchs

WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Friday moved to ground additional aircraft believed to be in violation of sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including a second airplane owned by businessman Roman Abramovich. The Commerce Department said a 787 Dreamliner owned by Abramovich had likely violated U.S. export controls, after having identified in March a first aircraft owned by the Russian businessman suspected to be in violation of restrictions. It also said that it was issuing an order denying export privileges to Rossiya Airlines due to ongoing export violations, the fifth Russian airline to which it has…

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20

May

Canada to ban Huawei/ZTE 5G equipment

OTTAWA, (Reuters) - Canada announced  it plans to ban the use of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltdand ZTE Corp  5G gear to protect national security, joining the rest of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network. "We intend to exclude Huawei and ZTE from our 5G networks," Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters in Ottawa. "Providers who already have this equipment installed will be required to cease its use and remove it under the plans we're announcing today." Champagne added that companies will be required to remove their 5G gear by June, 2024, would not be reimbursed. Companies using their 4G equipment must be…

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18

May

Canada introduces bill to ban Russia’s Putin, officials from entering country

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada introduced a bill in the Senate that will ban Russian President Vladimir Putin and some 1,000 other members of his government and military from entering the country as it continues to ratchet up sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine. "Banning close associates and key supporters of Putin's regime, including those responsible for this unprovoked aggression, from entering our country is one of the many ways in which we're holding Russia accountable for its crimes," Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in a statement.

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05

May

Trudeau vows to defend abortion rights after U.S. Supreme Court move

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to defend abortion rights as the decades-old battle over the issue exploded anew this week in Canada's southern neighbour, with the U.S. Supreme Court apparently set to overturn the decades-old ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide. "A woman's free choice is a choice to be made by her alone. Every woman in Canada has the right to a legal and safe abortion," Trudeau told reporters before a meeting of Liberal lawmakers in Ottawa. A draft U.S. Supreme Court decision, leaked late on Monday, showed a majority of justices prepared to overturn the 1973 Roe…

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30

Apr

Graying of Canada’s workforce threatens to worsen labor crunch

Canadians nearing retirement outnumbered those entering the workforce by a record margin in 2021, census data released this week showed, raising fears the country's labor shortage could worsen in coming years. Although Statistics Canada expects the gap to shrink before growing again around 2036, it warned that working-age Canadians' share of the population was falling. Meanwhile, the number of those aged 85 and older is projected to triple by 2051. "We have reached a stage where the working-age population has never been older," said Julien Bérard-Chagnon, senior analyst with Statistics Canada's Centre for Demography. More seniors are working at least…

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22

Apr

Canada would be supportive of Sweden and Finland joining NATO -PM Trudeau

Canada would support including Sweden and Finland in the NATO military alliance, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted both countries to consider joining. "Conversations are being had around Sweden and Finland looking to join NATO, and Canada, of course, is very supportive of that," Trudeau told reporters when asked if he backed the two countries joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Photo - EPA-EFE/VALDA KALNINA

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21

Apr

Canada inflation could be at peak, but that’s little relief for central bank

OTTAWA, April 21 (Reuters) - Canada's headline inflation may have peaked after hitting a 31-year high in March, economists said, though the central bank still faces an uphill battle to bring rocketing prices back to earth before expectations become entrenched. Even if March's 6.7% is the peak and price escalation slows next month, inflation will remain at levels last seen 30 years ago and economists say the Bank of Canada will need to act aggressively to get back closer to its 2% target. To be sure, there is also a chance inflation could surge even higher, particularly as Statistics Canada adds used car prices -…

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20

Apr

Canada to keep mask mandate

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's government said it has no plans to stop requiring masks on planes after a Florida judge struck down a U.S. version of the law. "We are taking a layered approach to keeping travelers safe, and masks remain an incredibly useful tool in our arsenal against COVID-19," a spokesperson for Canada's Transport Minister wrote in an email. The spokesperson confirmed masks will be required on Canadian airlines and on flights that depart from or arrive in Canada. The federal government also requires travelers to wear masks and track close contacts for 14 days after arriving in Canada. On Monday,…

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15

Apr

Canada to deploy military personnel to Poland to support Ukrainian refugees

Canada will deploy up to 150 military personnel to Poland to support Ukrainians fleeing Russia's war and address a growing refugee crisis, Defense Minister Anita Anand said. Most of those military personnel will assist with the immediate care and processing of Ukrainian refugees at reception centers across Poland, Anand said. "Our people will provide general support, spiritual services and limited medical care enabled by Ukrainian-speaking Canadian Armed Forces personnel," Anand told reporters. The Canadian Armed Forces members would also support a Polish-led task force for humanitarian assistance, and help resettle Ukrainians in Canada. Over 4.6 million people have fled Ukraine…

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