Canada is opening its arms to Ukrainians fleeing war by relaxing immigration rules.The government is announcing expedited temporary visas for Ukrainians that will take just weeks to process, instead of the usual year.Canada is also tightening its economic chokehold on Russian oligarchs, and booting Russia and its ally Belarus off its most favoured nation list of trade partners.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada and other close partners are calling for Russia's suspension from the international policing agency Interpol.

Forty-seven Canadians have been arrested and 12 children have been removed from abusive situations as part of a global investigation into online child sexual exploitation, the RCMP said Wednesday.The Mounties said 186 charges have been laid in Canada so far during the investigation, dubbed Operation H. Arrests have been made in eight provinces over the past two years, they said, adding the investigation is still underway.The RCMP say the probe began in New Zealand in the fall of 2019, after law enforcement officials there were alerted by an electronic service provider who had discovered a larg

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says co-ordinated sanctions against Russia by G7 countries will go even further in the coming days, choking off President Vladimir Putin's ability to fund his war on Ukraine.Freeland says she spoke with her G7 counterparts this morning, joined by Ukraine's "tired but determined" finance minister, who assured them his country would win the war as he spoke from a windowless room furnished with a spartan cot and a blue and yellow flag taped to the wall.She says existing sanctions are the most serious and stringent ever imposed on a major economy and new measures

Ottawa has asked the International Criminal Court to speed up its investigation into Russia for possible war crimes and announced Canada is closing its ports to Russian ships.Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says petitioning the court is important for Canada to show that it is steadfast in its support of Ukraine.The ban on Russian-owned or registered ships and fishing vessels in Canadian ports and internal waters will take effect later this week and is in co-ordination with G-7 partners and other countries. More than 100 diplomats from some 40 countries and allies on Tuesday walked out of

The federal government has asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to review the presence of the Russian state-run broadcaster, RT, on Canada's airwaves. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says action is needed to combat falsehoods and disinformation by Russia about the invasion of Ukraine, including on social media. The move follows the decision of Rogers, Bell and Shaw to pull the Kremlin- backed broadcaster from their lineup of channels. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez applauded Telus for joining Canadian broadcasters "in giving RT the boot" in a tweet earlier tod

Another round of Canadian sanctions will target Russian President Vladimir Putin along with his chief of staff and foreign minister. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also says Canada is confirming its support to remove Russia from SWIFT, a critical part of the global banking system. He says excluding Russian banks from the system would make it even harder for Putin to ``finance his brutalities.'' Canada will also levy additional sanctions on Belarus and its leaders for helping Putin's invasion, targeting 57 individuals, in addition to existing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko's regime for

Canada's chief public health officer says governments should be prepared to bring back public health measures in case of another serious variant of COVID-19.Several provinces have begun to scale back on mandates for vaccines and masks, signalling a return to normalcy now that the Omicron wave is waning.Dr. Theresa Tam says she hopes Canada is past the pandemic crisis and is now in a transition phase, headed toward recovery.She says Canada must still be ready to bring some public health measures back if cases begin to shoot up again.The goal, she says, will be to limit stiff restrictions in fav

Yellow and blue flags are flying in cities across Canada as Ukrainian Canadians demonstrate to denounce Russia's attack on Ukraine and urge Ottawa to act swiftly to help defend their homeland. Vancouver protester Sofiya Pylypenko moved to Canada 12 years ago but still has family in Ukraine that live just 40 kilometres from the Russian border. She says she has received calls from family telling her tanks were coming and explosions had started. Another rally is to take place tomorrow at 1pm outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Justin Trudeau says Canada is arranging for the safe passage of any Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families still in Ukraine following the Russian invasion. The prime minister says more severe sanctions will target dozens of people and entities with connections to Russia. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says the world cannot allow the attack to end the rules-based order that Canada helped build in the aftermath of the Second World War. Trudeau is calling Russia’s military action against Ukraine an attack on democracy, international law, human rights and freedom. He