Parliament's spending watchdog estimates the Liberals will spend more this year on a wage-subsidy program than expected, but less in 2021. The Liberals estimated last month that the program would cost $83.5 billion this fiscal year when taking into account take-up through the summer and its extension since the fall.Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's fall economic statement also estimated the program would cost almost $16.2 billion in the coming fiscal year that starts in April 2021.Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux's office says in a report today that the figure for this year could be

The federal government says it has signed an agreement with the United States to send a Canadian astronaut around the moon.The planned trip in 2023 is part of a broader U.S.-led effort to establish a new international space station above the lunar surface to allow for exploration of the moon and future missions to Mars.The Gateway Treaty unveiled today also calls for a second flight for a Canadian astronaut to that future space station, known as the Lunar Gateway.The government says the agreement will make Canada the second country to send an astronaut into deep space, though the trip will no

The Supreme Court on Wednesday while observing that farmers issue "will soon become a national issue" said that it intends to set up a committee comprising representatives of farmers unions across India, government and other stakeholders to resolve the issues of protesting farmers. A Bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for Centre that it intends to form a committee "because this will soon become a national issue and with the government, it won't work out it seems."The Bench also issued notice to Centre and

Premier John Horgan warns tighter enforcement is coming to those who refuse to follow British Columbia's COVID-19 restrictions. Horgan says BC has shown itself to be more successful in managing the virus than some of its neighbours, but the small portion of people who refuse to follow public health restrictions are jeopardizing the health of others. BC reported 522 new COVID-19 cases today and 21 additional deaths, for a total of 668. The premier says the province will be cracking down on those who refuse to follow the rules over the next few weeks and will ensure that those who break the res

Today marks the first day of British Columbia’s provincewide COVID-19 immunizations, the most comprehensive vaccine program to ever be delivered in B.C.Over the coming days, approximately 4,000 health-care workers in British Columbia will be rolling up their sleeves to receive the first approved COVID-19 vaccine.Nisha Yunus, a 64-year old residential care aid was one of the first people in British Columbia to receive the COVID-19 immunization. Yunus has worked in the same long-term care home in the Vancouver Coastal Health region for 41 years, all in the same unit and on the same floor. The

The RCMP will be changing its policies over collecting and using information gathered on protesters following a series of recommendations from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki acknowledged inadequate data-handling practices in response to the investigation into surveillance of opponents of the now-defunct Northern Gateway pipeline project. The BC Civil Liberties Association first lodged a complaint in 2014, saying the Mounties improperly collected and shared information about people and groups who peacefully opposed the project. The complaints comm

The Canadian military is investigating after a master sailor from Manitoba is believed to have accidentally fallen overboard. Duane Earle, of Winnipeg, went missing while deployed on HMCS Winnipeg. A government news release says Duane Earle is thought to have accidentally fallen overboard in the Pacific while the ship was west of San Francisco. It says the master sailor wasn't identified as missing until later Monday and the ship turned back to begin a search.At his Ottawa news conference this morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said every resource is being dedicated to the search. Earle i

The Canadian Real Estate Association says the average price of homes rose 13.8 per cent in November, largely influenced by sales in the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto areas. The association says the average home price was 603,000 dollars. But with the Vancouver and Toronto markets excluded, that price drops by 122,000 dollars. Sales activity was up by more than 32 per cent between this November compared with the same time last year. The association says there were year-over-year price gains in Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack, the Okanagan Valley, Victoria and elsewhere

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada has signed a contract to receive up to 168,000 doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December. The Moderna vaccine has not yet been approved by Health Canada but Trudeau says deliveries could begin within 48 hours of that happening. Trudeau also says Canada is set to receive about 200,000 of its total early shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer next week. He says there will also be 70 sites across the country ready to administer these doses, a big jump from the 14 distribution sites in place this week. Moderna's vaccine doesn'