The federal government says a ban on cruise ships in Canadian waters will stay in place for one more year. The ban until Feb. 28, 2022 applies to cruise ships carrying more than 100 people as well as pleasure crafts operating in the Arctic, except for those used by residents in the region. The ban was originally put in place last year was to expire at the end of February. A news release from Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the ban in necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect vulnerable communities. He also says it will allow public health authorities to focus on pressing is

The Public Health Agency of Canada says there's been nearly a 30 per-cent drop in active COVID-19 cases across the country over the past two weeks. The agency says there are currently 48,221 active cases in Canada, down from more than 68,400 cases two weeks ago. National data suggest there's also been a downward trend in daily case counts, with an average of 4,061 new infections reported per day over the past week. Authorities say the slowdown has led to a gradual decline in severe COVID-19 outcomes. Provincial and territorial data shows a seven-day average of 3,711 patients being treated in

The federal Conservatives are calling for a special House of Commons committee devoted to Canada-US relations. Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says the committee should focus on the economic relationship between the two countries, with emphasis placed on Buy American provisions being advanced by US President Joe Biden. The committee would also concentrate on the threatened closure of an Enbridge pipeline known as Line 5.A Conservative motion, if approved, would also see the committee explore what work the government is doing with the U-S to procure a steady stream of COVID-19 vaccines. O'Too

The Trudeau government is adding the Proud Boys and three other extreme right-wing groups to its list of terrorist organizations. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the groups have proven themselves to be violent, as was seen in the United States during the riot at the Capitol building in Washington, DC last month. The four right-wing groups are among 13 additions to the list, which include three groups linked to al-Qaida, four associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and one Kashmiri organization. The government notes the Proud Boys played a "pivotal role in the insurrecti

Canada could get up to 1.1 million additional doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March through the global vaccine-sharing initiative COVAX. That's if and when it's approved by Health Canada, and would be over and above Ottawa's existing agreement with the drugmaker. And since there is the potential for production delays, COVAX is giving countries a range of potential deliveries. Canada was told it would get between 1.9 million and 3.2 million doses by the end of June, with between 500,000 and 1.1 million of those arriving before the end of next month. The vaccine alliance

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says "rare exceptions" to new travel restrictions will be made on compassionate grounds, but that more contagious COVID-19 variants now taking hold in Canada mean tough rules must be implemented in the next few weeks.Trudeau announced last week that passengers returning from abroad will have to quarantine at a hotel for up to three days after taking a PCR test at the airport, but no date has been set for when this will take effect.The move is one of several measures meant to choke off entry of the virus into Canada, but comes after case numbers of more transmissib

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says there are signs of community spread of COVID-19 variants in several provinces. Dr. Tam says 148 cases of the mutations that first emerged in the United Kingdom and South Africa have been confirmed across the country, even as overall coronavirus case counts continue to decline. The country's top doctor says that provincial officials should be very cautious about relaxing safety measures, as the U.K. and South African strains are highly contagious. Dr. Tam says the variants' arrival in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia means health authoritie

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada has signed a tentative agreement for Novavax to produce millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Canada once it's approved for use here.The U.S. company is still doing clinical trials of its vaccine but if Health Canada approves it, a new National Research Council facility in Montreal will begin pumping out Novavax doses when the building is finished later this year.It would be the first COVID-19 vaccine to be produced domestically.Canada is currently at the mercy of foreign governments, which could at any time slam the doors shut to vaccine export

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada's other vaccine supplier has to cut back on its deliveries next week. Moderna will ship only about three-quarters of the expected supply, cutting Canada's next shipment by more than 50,000 doses. Similar cuts are being made to Europe's deliveries, with Italy, France and Switzerland all reporting they, too, are getting less than 80 per cent of their expected doses. It is more bad news for Canada's already troubled vaccine supplies, after Pfizer cut back its deliveries by more than two-thirds since mid-January. Pfizer is also pushing Canada to change th