Amazon Canada plans to hire 15-thousand new warehouse and distribution workers across the country and is boosting the starting pay for front-line, hourly employees by 27 per cent to $21.65 an hour.Current employees are getting raises immediately, regardless of how long they've been with the company.Amazon Canada has 25-thousand full and part-time workers in 25 communities across five provinces, and is growing rapidly due to the pandemic-driven explosion in online shopping.

Statistics Canada says the economy added 90-thousand jobs in August in the third consecutive monthly rise.The unemployment rate fell to 7.1 per cent for the month, compared with 7.5 per cent in July, bringing the rate to the lowest level since the onset of the pandemic last year.The agency says overall employment is within 156-thousand jobs, or 0.8 per cent, of the level recorded in February 2020 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A pair of unseeded teenagers will take the stage in the U.S. Open women's semifinals: 18-year-old Emma Raducanu of Britain and 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada. The 73rd-ranked Fernandez takes on No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the first semifinal Thursday night. Play in that match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Arthur Ashe Stadium. That will be followed by the 150th ranked Raducanu against No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece. Raducanu is the first female qualifier to get to the final four at the U.S. Open in the professional era, which began in 1968. None of the four women remaining

A new report says costs for a COVID-19 patient treated in intensive care can climb to an estimated $50,000 compared with about $8,400 dollars for someone who's had a heart attack. The Canadian Institute for Health Information report says the cost for a pneumonia patient being in ICU is about eight-thousand dollars.But it says COVID patients remain there for much longer and, on average, their treatment amounts to about $23,000.The report covers data from between January 2020 and March 2021.It says COVID-19 cost Canada's health-care system a billion dollars during that time, but it excludes cost

There are no Americans left competing in the singles events at the US Open tennis tournament, but two Canadians from Quebec are still in contention. 19 year old Leylah Annie Fernandez and 21 year old Felix Auger-Aliassime got deeper into the New York tourney with quarterfinal victories yesterday. Having already knocked out former champs Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber, Fernandez beat fifth-seed Elina Svitolina to get into the semifinals. And Auger-Aliassime won his match after 18 year old Carlos Alcaraz withdrew in the second set due to injury.

The first of two official election debates takes place tonight, with five federal party leaders facing off in what may well be their best chance to sway voters before election day on Sept. 20.With less than two weeks to go, millions of voters are expected to tune in for tonight's two-hour French debate and Thursday's English debate.Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and Green Party Leader Annamie Paul will participate in both debates.People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier did not mee

Leylah Fernandez has reached the U.S. Open semifinals, one day after turning 19.The Canadian continued her stunning run through the tournament by upsetting No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5). Fernandez won the last two points of the tiebreaker to give her another three-set victory after knocking off past U.S. Open champions Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber in her previous two matches. Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez continues her remarkable run at the US Open tennis tournament.The 19-year-old from Laval, Quebec, held on through some difficult stretches to post a win over Elina Svi

On the campaign trail in Montreal today, Justin Trudeau highlighted his Liberal party's plan to tackle Canada's housing crisis.Trudeau says the plan has multiple layers because everyone's housing needs are different.Trudeau faced numerous questions today about a gravel-throwing incident in southern Ontario over the weekend at one of his rallies.Trudeau says it will be up to the R-C-M-P to decide whether charges should be laid.He also vowed he will not change policy directions for the sake of what he called an anti-vaxxer mob.

Quebec's public security minister says a coroner will investigate after Mexican boxer Jeanette Zacarias Zapata died following a bout last weekend in Montreal. Genevieve Guilbault offered her condolences to the family of Zapata, 18, who died in hospital Thursday from injuries she suffered during her fight with Quebecer Marie-Pier Houle. Guilbault said today in a tweet the coroner's office will investigate the causes and circumstances of Zapata's death. Event organizer Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) announced Zapata had died in hospital with her husband Jovanni Martinez by her side. The incident occu