Health Canada says it's begun its first review of a possible vaccine for COVID-19. The agency says it's evaluating the vaccine candidate being worked on by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. The possible vaccine is undergoing what's called a ``rolling review,'' in which Health Canada accepts data and results from the company's trials as it comes in, rather than waiting for everything to be complete. Health Canada cautions that starting a rolling review is just one step on the road to approval. The federal government has put in an advance order for 20 million dose

Canada is forming its own forensic examination and assessment team to examine evidence and information after Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down a Ukrainian jetliner in January, killing all 176 people on board. The office of Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told The Associated Press the team will collect, organize and analyze all available information, evidence and intelligence about after the Jan. 8 crash near Tehran, and will advise the Canadian government on its credibility. Canadian experts have been present as observers in the probe of the crash being carried out under inter

Federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says Ottawa is not trying to block provinces from getting access to new rapid COVID-19 testing devices. Manitoba's Central Services Minister Reg Helwer says Ottawa is forbidding Abbott Laboratories from selling its new ID Now tests directly to the provinces. Helwer says the federal government is insisting on controlling the supply and allocating shipments to the provinces. Health Canada recently approved the ID Now tests, which deliver results in about 15 minutes without having to send the specimen to a lab for processing. Helwer says

The federal Liberals have re-introduced a bill that would ban forcing children or adults to undergo therapy aimed at altering their sexual orientation or gender identity. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today called on the opposition parties to support the legislation. Justice Minister David Lametti says conversion therapy is based on a false premise that being gay, bisexual or trans is wrong and the legislation will prevent it from happening. The Conservative opposition has already indicated it's prepared to back the bill. PM concerned about the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in QuebecPrime Min

The Green Party of Canada says the amount of money accidentally deposited with the party rather than Glen Murray's leadership campaign adds up to less than $10,000. Murray says he is not yet convinced the damage stops there but credits the party with doing what it can to fix the problem. He says the damage to his campaign has been done, preventing his team from doing some planned work because it didn't think it had the money. The party says in a statement today it has forwarded $9,630 from 35 donors to Murray's campaign, and added under 10 people to the membership list whose memberships weren

The Canada Infrastructure Bank plans to invest $10 billion in projects that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls a win-win. The investments are expected to create 60 thousand jobs while contributing to the fight against climate change. The bank will invest $1.5 billion in agricultural infrastructure in Western Canada, $2.5 billion in clean power projects and $1.5 billion to buy zero-emission buses. Another $2 billion will be spent to expand access to high-speed Internet service across the country.

Bloc Quebecois Yves-Francois Blanchet says his party voted in favour of the Liberal government's new financial-aid package for workers because Canadians need help. But he's complaining MPs were not able to do their jobs to analyse the legislation and propose improvements because the Liberals rammed it through Parliament early this morning. Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole feels the same way, and both parties are criticizing the NDP for helping the Liberals fast-track the bill. But the NDP says it did that so Canadians who had been getting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit could get assist

Health Canada has given the green light to a rapid test for COVID-19. First rapid test for COVID-19 has been approved by HealthCanada. The Abbott Diagnostics ID Now test has been in use in the US for several months already, and can produce results in less than 13 minutes in the same place a nasal swab is taken from a patient. Health Canada's approval comes a day after the federal government had signed a deal with Abbott to buy 7.9-million of the test kits. The products from Abbott are one of several rapid tests being reviewed by Health Canada as COVID-19 cases in several provinces surge to le

Ontario is reporting another 52 cases of COVID-19 in schools across the province. The government says at least 32 of those infected are students, while eight are staff and 12 have not been identified. Wednesday's development brings the total number of cases in schools to 342. 188 of these cases are in students. The government says 282 of the province's 4,828 schools have at least one case of COVID-19. It says three schools have been shut down due to the virus. Overall, the province has reported 51,710 cases of the novel coronavirus.