Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada is talking with the United States about the agreement keeping the border closed to non-essential crossings. Freeland says Canada's position is that the agreement should be extended. She says regardless of what U.S. President Donald Trump says about wanting to re-open the border, decisions about opening Canada's side will be made by Canadians only. Freeland says there are also discussions between premiers about interprovincial travel restrictions.

Ontario is reporting 514 new COVID-19 cases today, and 38 more deaths. That brings the province to a total of 8,961 cases, including 423 deaths and nearly 4,200 cases that have been resolved. The province completed 9,001 tests in the previous day, surpassing a target the health minister set last week after the premier expressed frustration that Ontario had been testing well below its capacity.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault says 143 more people have died of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 630. He says most of the deaths did not occur in the past 24 hours, but have been added the list following a change of data collecting methods by the public health department as well as post-mortem investigations. There were also 997 new cases, for a total of 15,857. Legault said 2,000 doctors responded to his call yesterday to come help in the province's overburdened long-term care homes.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is expanding a loan program for small businesses suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and is working on a new support for companies having trouble paying rent.The loan program will now be open to businesses that had payrolls last year between $20,000 and $1.5 million.The Canada Emergency Business Account previously offered up to $40,000 in loans to business with payrolls between $50,000 and $1 million.Trudeau also says a program is coming to help businesses cover rents for at least three months but the details still need to be worked ou

A state of local emergency has been declared north of Vancouver as a wildfire has charred more than half a square kilometre of bush and trees in the Upper Squamish Valley.The District of Squamish issued the declaration late Wednesday after the out-of-control fire threatened a handful of homes, a campground and BC Hydro infrastructure.Six homes have been evacuated and evacuation alerts are also in effect for residents of Paradise Valley.Coastal Fire Centre spokeswoman Donna MacPherson has said the blaze was likely human caused.A 12 person, BC Wildfire crew remained in the area overnight, assis

WestJet Airlines Ltd. says it will lay off 1,700 pilots as the company continues to struggle with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.The Air Line Pilots Union says 700 employees received layoff notices effective May 1, with 1,000 more kicking in on June 1, depending on seniority.The layoffs come amid an ongoing collapse of global travel triggered by border shutdowns and tanking demand, with WestJet and Air Canada slashing the vast majority of their flights through April and May.WestJet calls the impact ``colossal'' and says the layoffs are a ``last resort'' that make up part of broader cost re

Amid fears over the spread of COVID-19, a man was allegedly shot at for coughing while playing Ludo. The incident took place at Dayanagar village in Jarcha on Tuesday. "The accused fired at the man following an altercation. A case has been registered and a hunt has been launched to nab the accused," said Rajesh Singh, DCP Zone 3. The incident occurred on Tuesday night when four people were playing Ludo in Jarcha's Senthli Temple while the accused was passing by. The injured and the accused had some altercation following which the accused shot at the injured. "Jai Veer then shot Prashant in hi

There are 28,379 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 14,860 confirmed (including 487 deaths, 2,146 resolved) Ontario: 8,447 confirmed (including 385 deaths, 3,902 resolved) Alberta: 1,996 confirmed (including 48 deaths, 914 resolved) British Columbia: 1,561 confirmed (including 75 deaths, 955 resolved) Nova Scotia: 549 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 137 resolved) Saskatchewan: 304 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 205 resolved) Newfoundland and Labrador: 247 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 149 resolved) Manitoba: 231 confirmed (including 5 deaths, 108 resolved), 15 presumptive New

British Columbia Premier John Horgan says people in the province should congratulate themselves for their efforts to flatten the COVID-19 curve, but says it's still too early to loosen. Horgan says most people are following the orders of provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry to self-isolate if sick, practise physical distancing and frequent hand washing. Horgan says recent data says most people in B.C. stayed close to home over the Easter holiday weekend and did not visit their weekend cottages or take drives to nearby communities. The premier says Henry will release up-to-date data mode