B.C. residents are scrambling to access the provincial government's one-thousand dollar benefit for those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Carole James says almost 375 thousand people have applied for the help as of eight a.m. this morning. The one-time, tax-free benefit is for those who have lost their jobs, had their hours reduced or had to quit work to stay at home with their children. James says Premier John Horgan will reveal on Wednesday or Thursday the process of how the pandemic restrictions will be lifted.

British Columbia is reporting 53 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths since Saturday. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. now has a total of 2,224 positive COVID-19 cases, with 1,417 people having recovered. She says the provincial death total is now at 117 people. Henry says the three most recent deaths are people who were residents of long-term care centres. She says B.C.'s most recent COVID-19 modelling data continues to show dramatic decreases in cases since the province introduced physical distancing and other measures in March to slow the spread of the virus, but it cont

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales dropped by 39.4 per cent in April from a year earlier to hit an almost four-decade low. The number of homes sold also fell to an almost 40 year low, with just 11-hundred and nine changing hands last month. But the average price for a home has climbed 2.5 per cent since April 2019 to 1.04 million dollars.

Transit users in Metro Vancouver will have to start paying bus fares again starting June 1. TransLink, the authority responsible for regional transportation, says fare collection and front-door boarding on buses will resume next month, although physical distancing measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 remain in place. TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond says in a statement that Plexiglas or vinyl barriers will be installed on buses to ensure the safety of drivers. Fare collection was halted in mid-March and passengers were required to board buses by rear doors and use only designated seats as the

British Columbia's egg producers are joining the effort to keep Canadians fed during the COVID-19 pandemic. BC Egg, the organization representing all registered egg farmers in the province, says it will donate 25,000 dozen eggs to Food Banks BC every week. The organization says all egg farmers in B.C. will share the cost of the donation. Food Banks BC executive director Laura Lansink says protein is one of the most sought-after food bank items and more than 100,000 individuals, families and children who depend on food assistance every month will appreciate the donation.

Air Canada's CEO is using the word cataclysmic to describe the damage the COVID-19 pandemic has done to the airline industry. The company lost more than one-billion-dollars in the first quarter. Calin Rovinescu is predicting it will take Air Canada at least three years to return to the flight capacity and earnings heights of last year, calling this the darkest period ever in the history of commercial aviation.

The Abbotsford International Airshow has been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Airshow society president Jim Reith says they had hoped the spread of virus would be minimized in time for the event in August. He says the primary goal of the airshow society is to put on an event that is safe for all spectators and participants, and the decision to cancel was necessary for health and safety reasons. The event attracts thousands of people to watch flight demonstrations from Canadian, American and international participants.

Ontario is reporting 370 new cases of COVID-19 today, and 84 more deaths. That brings the provincial total to nearly 18,000 cases, including 1,300 deaths and more than 12,500 resolved cases. The new provincial total is 2.1 per cent higher than the previous day, which is part of a downward trend.

Quebec is pushing back the reopening of retail stores in the greater Montreal area by one week, to May 18. Premier Francois Legault said today there are too many COVID-19 patients in Montreal's hospitals to safely open retail stores by the originally scheduled date. Legault says the construction and manufacturing sectors across Quebec will reopen, as scheduled, on May 11. Meanwhile, Quebec recorded another 75 COVID-19 deaths, for a total of 2,280, and the province announced 32,623 confirmed cases of the virus, an increase of 758 over the previous day.