Air Canada says it will cut 1,700 jobs as it scales down flights for the first quarter of 2021.The 25 per cent reduction in service will also affect 200 employees at Air Canada's Express carriers, the company said Wednesday morning. With the reduction, Air Canada's capacity in the first quarter of 2021 will be about 20 per cent of its capacity during the first quarter of 2019, the company says.Lucie Guillemette, Air Canada's executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said in a statement that increased travel restrictions by federal and provincial governments have had an immediate

British Columbia health officials say staying active and connected is important for physical and mental well-being despite the challenges of COVID-19. In a news release Tuesday, they say people have learned and adapted to the changing pandemic. The advice to stay active comes as officials reported 446 new COVID-19 cases and nine more deaths. Health officials also reported a new health-care facility outbreak at Mount St. Joseph's Hospital. The total number of COVID-19 infections in the province now stands at 58,553 with 1,019 deaths. To date, 62,294 people have received a COVID-19 vaccine in B

A homeless woman is unhurt but police want to catch the man who tried to set her blankets on fire as she slept on a Vancouver street. A statement from the Vancouver Police Department on Tuesday says the apparent arson happened at around 4 a.m. on Dec. 13. Sgt. Steve Addison says the woman, who's in her 30s, was wrapped in a jacket and blankets and the man paced around her as she lay on the ground, then set her belongings on fire and walked away. Addison says video the department just acquired shows the fire smouldering before flames emerge, but the woman woke up in time to avoid serious harm.

A First Nations community on Vancouver Island is fighting to contain a COVID-19 outbreak while facing intolerance from some members of the surrounding community. Cowichan Tribes general manager Derek Thompson says some members of his Duncan-area First Nation have faced discrimination in the community since COVID-19 cases were first reported this month. Thompson says there were no COVID-19 cases among their members for the first 10 months of the pandemic, but that has increased to 73 people since Jan. 1. The First Nation has issued a stay-at-home order for tribal members until Jan. 22 in an ef

Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou is back in British Columbia Supreme Court as her lawyers seek to ease bail conditions for the Huawei chief financial officer. Speaking English and aided by an interpreter, her husband Liu Xiaozong testified he believes Meng is at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 given her proximity to multiple security personnel whenever she leaves home. He says his wife is a survivor of thyroid cancer and has hypertension, while their daughter and her son are afraid of being publicly identified during visits to Vancouver due to the presence of private security. Her l

Avalanche Canada is warning of a high danger rating in several coastal BC locations. The forecaster says mountains and slopes on the South Coast, Sea to Sky, South Coast Inland and Northwest Coastal ranges all have high risk of slides in the alpine and treeline. On the southern mountain ranges, it says natural avalanches are expected today with buried weak layers that could produce large slab avalanches. Avalanche Canada says with new snow and extreme winds forecast for the Northwest Coastal ranges, avalanches are expected in many areas. In B.C. 4 people have been killed in snow sports in the

The Ontario government is ordering residents to stay at home starting just after midnight Thursday morning. There are exceptions for essential activities such as accessing health care or shopping for groceries. Premier Doug Ford says he's also declaring another state of emergency effective immediately in response to surging COVID-19 infection rates.Ford announced the restrictions shortly after the province released new projections that show the virus is on track to overwhelm Ontario's health-care system. Ontario releases new modelling New modelling shows that without any changes, Ontario's he

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government has reached a deal with Pfizer to buy an extra 20 million doses of the vaccine it produced with its German partner BioNTech. He says that means Canada will receive 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year. He also says that between now and sometime between April and June, Canada will have enough doses to vaccinate up to 20 million people against the deadly coronavirus. Trudeau is also announcing the Canada-U. S. land border will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least Feb. 21. It's another 30-day extension to the re

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has conducted a small shuffle of his ministers before holding up later in the day for a cabinet retreat to plot strategy for the resumption of Parliament. The shuffle is due to the departure of Navdeep Bains, who stepped down as innovation minister Tuesday and is not intending to run again in the next election. In the first virtual swearing-in ceremony in Canadian history, Francois-Philippe Champagne shed his title as foreign minister to take up Bains' former role, while ex-transport minister Marc Garneau moved into Champagne's old job. Toronto-area MP Omar Algh