CanadaFeb 10, 2021
Feds promise new funds for public transit, most money won't arrive for years
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will provide nearly $15 billion for public-transit projects across the country — though most of the money won't arrive until later in the decade.Trudeau says the promised $14.9 billion in new public-transit funding will be spread over eight years, though most of the money won't start flowing until 2026.The government says the new funds will provide cities with predictable funding to plan for their long-term needs while helping Canadians move around easier and fight climate change.Trudeau announced the new funding during a teleconfere
CanadaFeb 09, 2021
355 cases of the UK COVID-19 variant, 25 of the South Africa variant detected in Canada: Dr. Theresa Tam
The country's top doctor says the daily rate of COVID-19 cases across the country is down to an average of 3,500. Doctor Theresa Tam says that's less than half the number reported in early January. But while declining case counts, hospitalizations and deaths are reassuring, she says we must continue to be cautious.Doctor Tam says while it's normal for variants to emerge as viruses continuously evolve, these are a concern because they are known to spread more easily and there's the possibility that current vaccines won't offer protection. Tam says with 355 cases of the UK variant, 25 of the Sou
CanadaFeb 09, 2021
Negative tests required at the land border as of next Monday will be mandatory: PM Trudeau
Canadians who show up at the land border without a COVID-19 test result in hand will still be allowed in the country. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada can't stop its citizens or permanent residents from coming into the country via car. But he says the negative tests required at the land border as of next Monday will be mandatory. He says fines of up to $3,000 could be put in place for those who don't have the test. Most non-essential travellers coming back to Canada do have to quarantine for 14 days. Relaxed approach to pay interest on 2020 tax debt until next yearOttawa is tweaking
CanadaFeb 09, 2021
Health Canada agrees Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine vials have six doses
Health Canada regulators agree with Pfizer and BioNTech that you can regularly get six doses out of each vial of their COVID-19 vaccine.Health Canada's chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma says Canada is amending the label on the vials in Canada, which previously indicated the vials contained five doses.Now it will say there are six.The change won't affect how many doses Canada gets as Pfizer already began allocating vials for Canada's shipments based on each containing six rather than five.Canada's contract with Pfizer and BioNTech is to buy 40 million doses this year, with four million
CanadaFeb 08, 2021
Federal Court orders B.C. prison to return PlayStation game card to inmate
An inmate serving time for first-degree murder has won a Federal Court battle that orders prison officials to return the memory card to his portable video game. Patrick Fischer asked the court to rule after the memory card for his PlayStation One game was confiscated in 2018 as he was transferred from maximum security to a medium-security prison in B.C.'s Fraser Valley. In the ruling, Justice Russel Zinn says not only did correction officials fail to "consider the facts surrounding Mr. Fischer’s possession and use of the memory card," they also failed to consider the "impact" of the decisio
CanadaFeb 08, 2021
COVID-19 restrictions to be relaxed in four provinces this week
Four provinces are relaxing their COVID-19 restrictions to start off the week.Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced the state of emergency declared last month will expire tomorrow, but stay-at-home orders will remain in effect.Quebec is allowing dining in restaurants and working out in gyms in six less-populated regions of the province and re-openingnon-essential stores, personal-care salons and museums province-wide.Alberta restaurants are open for in-person dining, and allowing one-on-one training at gyms.Nova Scotia is relaxing restrictions on organized gatherings.
CanadaFeb 08, 2021
Ottawa lays out criteria for quarantine hotels as it inches toward new travel rule
The Public Health Agency of Canada has listed its criteria for hotels seeking to participate in the mandatory three-day quarantine for returning travellers.The conditions posted online put the government one step closer to fulfilling its late-January pledge that all passengers returning from non-essential trips abroad will have to self-isolate in a federally mandated facility for up to 72 hours at their own expense.The government has not said when the measure, which aims to head off COVID-19 cases and contagious variants of the novel coronavirus at the border, will come into effect.To qualify
CanadaFeb 08, 2021
Health agency has no Moderna doses scheduled this week, with future amounts uncertain
Canada's COVID-19 vaccine drought could be coming to an end.The Public Health Agency of Canada says Ottawa plans to distribute more than 70,000 Pfizer-BiotNTech vaccine doses this week ahead of a major ramp-up, but no Moderna doses are on the schedule.Starting today, 70,200 Pfizer doses are expected to be delivered.Next week, officials are expecting shipments of about 3,35000 doses, which would be the single biggest vaccine delivery to Canada so far.Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines are the only two to be approved by Health Canada, though the department is reviewing others from AstraZeneca, Novava
CanadaFeb 06, 2021
Canada "very much on track" to receive six million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine doses: PM Trudeau
Trudeau says Canada is "very much on track" to receive a total of six million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine doses by the end of March, as planned, and that the CEOs of both pharmaceutical companies have reassured him they'll meet that target. He also says the Liberal government has approved a request for help from the Pauingassi First Nation in northern Manitoba and that the military will arrive by Saturday at the latest. Soldiers will provide logistical support, transport goods and medical supplies, and conduct wellness checks. Canada is one of the leading donors to COVAX: PM