The federal government is freezing the threshold at which the Competition Bureau must be notified of a merger. It also announced $123 million of funding to eight homebuilders that the federal government says are driving innovation and will help build more than 5,000 affordable homes. The announcements came this morning during Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's weekly economic update alongside other ministers. Competition law requires mergers that exceed a certain value to be flagged to the Competition Bureau in advance, so it can determine whether the deal could prevent or lessen competition

Quebec provincial police say they've so far arrested 21 people allegedly connected to a war over drug territory in eastern Quebec between a street gang and the Hells Angels. Sgt. Hélène St-Pierre said more arrests are possible in the crackdown on the running conflict between drug dealers tied to the Hells Angels and the Blood Family Mafia. Police say the war between the two groups has led to a series of violent incidents, including at least one murder, in the Quebec City area, the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region, the Lower St-Lawrence and the North Shore. St-Pierre says that among the arrested a

A new report says the crisis in Canada's bail system has worsened over the last decade, with more people in pre-trial custody and some spending weeks in detention before being released. A report released today by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association says that by 2021-2022, the proportion of people in provincial and territorial jails who were awaiting bail or trial was more than 70 per cent and nearly 79 per cent in Ontario. That's compared with just over 54 per cent in 2014, when the association released its initial report on the issue. The report says that while there are "clear timeframe

Lynx Air, known as Canada's cheapest airline, is closing down. The company has suddenly announced that it will stop operations from midnight on Monday, February 26. The management cited all the reasons behind this major decision including inflation, fuel cost and inability to compete. Lynx Air says it will try to operate as many flights as possible through the week to get as many passengers to their destinations as possible. The airline said that if a flight is cancelled, passengers will be notified via e-mail. Meanwhile, passengers whose flight tickets are on or after February 26 have been

The relief given by the Government of Canada to international students to work more than 20 hours is ending on April 30. Meanwhile, reports say that the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship is considering a permanent change to increase the working hours for international students from 20 to 30 hours. Immigration Minister Mark Miller announced the reduction in the number of international students in January, saying that students who are already in Canada or who have applied for a study permit by December 7, 2023 will be able to work without the 20-hour limit until April 30. Ear

The Quebec government will present a budget on March 12 that is expected to have a larger deficit than originally estimated. Quebec's Finance Minister Eric Girard said today the government's priorities for the 2024-25 fiscal year will be health care and education. Earlier this week, Premier François Legault said collective agreements recently signed with workers in those two sectors mean it will take longer for the government to balance the books. Legault said that because of the salary increases for teachers and health-care workers following strikes that delayed surgeries and shut hundreds

The leader of Canada's main opposition party, Pierre Poilievre, launched a major attack on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today over his immigration policy. Poilievre said that Canada's immigration system was very good during the Conservative government, but during Trudeau's 8-year rule, it collapsed, he said, without arranging facilities for students. The doors of Canada were opened for them but upon reaching here they faced many problems related to housing, jobs and they were forced to live under bridges and in one room in large numbers. Poilievre announced that three important steps would b

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he believes "biological males" have no place in sports or change rooms that are labelled female. Poilievre was asked at a news conference about his position on whether transgender women should be allowed in spaces that are labelled for women and whether he would introduce any legislation to stop it. Poilievre told reporters he believes "female spaces should be exclusively for females, not for biological males." That is in line with a policy resolution Conservative party members voted for at their convention last fall, which says that women should have

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to make a housing announcement in Edmonton today. Trudeau is expected to be joined by Liberal cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault, who represents an Edmonton riding, and Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. The three are scheduled to visit a housing development beforehand. Following the announcement, Trudeau is set to take part in a roundtable discussion with members of the LGBTQ+ community.The prime minister was in Vancouver on Tuesday to make a similar housing announcement. Trudeau said Ottawa is adding $2 billion in financing to a B.C. program aimed at fast-tracking t