The Toronto Transit Commission says 38 of its bus drivers refused work on Wednesday over safety concerns related to COVID-19. TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said five of the drivers initiated work refusals on Wednesday morning, followed by another 33 in the evening. The Ministry of Labour said the report by the five workers did not meet the requirements of a work refusal, and the inspector is still ruling on the second round of claims. Green said the Ministry of Labour cited the TTC's practices of rear-door boarding on busses, blocking of seats nearest to the driver and availability of hand sa

Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer of Canada, says models are now predicting between 1,200 and 1,620 deaths from COVID-19 by April 21. Last week the projections expected between 500 and 700 deaths this week, and Canada today has confirmed 1,048 deaths. Tam says the overall curve is ``bending'' when it comes to the number of new infections being confirmed in Canada but the death rate is higher than expected because such a high proportion of outbreaks are in long term care centres. Tam says more than 90 per cent of the patients confirmed to have died from COVID-19 are over the age

An inmate has died from an apparent complication related to COVID-19 at a prison in British Columbia. Correctional Service Canada says in a statement it is the first death related to the novel coronavirus among federally sentenced inmates. It says in a statement the inmate died at Abbotsford Regional Hospital Wednesday. The correctional service says the inmate, who has not been identified, was serving time at Mission Institute where 54 people have tested positive for the virus. It says the inmate's next of kin has been notified and the BC Coroners Service will review the circumstances of deat

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