A complete overhaul of how Canada processes immigration applications is in the works as the federal government braces for a post-COVID-19 surge in demand for migration to Canada. The federal Immigration Department says the "new normal" that will emerge after the pandemic requires a revamp of the technology used to handle millions of applications a year. It says new strategies for managing those applications are also needed to limit the amount of in-person contact within the bureaucracy and between officials and potential newcomers. The department included its plan in an "urgent request" issued

Ottawa will spend a further $133 million on helping Indigenous businesses suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government has heard from First Nations, Inuit and Metis business owners who have said the last few months have been extremely difficult. Of the total amount announced today, $117 million is to help small and community-owned Indigenous businesses. The remaining $16 million is to support Indigenous businesses in the tourism sector, which supports thousands of jobs across the country. This money adds to $306 million in f

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has tested negative for COVID-19. His office said Wednesday he would get tested after learning that Education Minister Stephen Lecce had come into contact with someone who was infected. Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott held a joint news conference the day before with Lecce to announce a child-care reopening plan. Lecce's test result came back negative, and the premier's office says today that Ford's and Elliott's were negative as well. Ontario is reporting 203 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the province to a total of 31,544. The province also reported

There are 97,125 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 53,341 confirmed (including 5,081 deaths, 19,841 resolved) Ontario: 31,341 confirmed (including 2,475 deaths, 25,380 resolved) Alberta: 7,276 confirmed (including 151 deaths, 6,754 resolved) British Columbia: 2,680 confirmed (including 167 deaths, 2,328 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,061 confirmed (including 62 deaths, 994 resolved) Saskatchewan: 658 confirmed (including 13 deaths, 624 resolved) Manitoba: 289 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 285 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 d

Opposition parties have refused to give unanimous consent to speedily pass the Trudeau government's latest emergency legislation.They have also rejected the government's bid to split the bill in two, to allow promised benefits for Canadians with disabilities to go ahead.Those benefits are now in limbo, along with other measures in the bill.The bill includes a proposed expansion of the wage subsidy program to include seasonal workers and some additional businesses, as well as proposed penalties for fraudulently claiming the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.It also proposes changes to the CERB

Transport Minister Marc Garneau says Canada wants Iran to explain why it hasn't yet handed over the black boxes from the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed near Tehran on Jan 8. Garneau is speaking this morning by video link to the United Nations aviation organization's council and he says it has been 92 days since Iran told the council that it would give the flight data and cockpit voice recorders to Ukraine for analysis. Iran had refused to hand over the recorders since the crash despite not having the technology to read the damaged machines itself but changed that stance on March 11. Several

Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says police officers who use excessive force or appear to be discriminating on the basis of race need to be held to account.Blair says he is concerned about a number of instances in recent days in which Indigenous Peoples have had violent runs-in with the RCMP and local police.He says while there is a policy designed to ensure bias-free policing by the RCMP, there needs to be more work done on its relationship with Indigenous communities.Demands have increased in recent days for a complete overhaul to the way policing works in Canada, alongside a simil

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says it is irresponsible and wrong-headed for the Liberal government to draft a bill that would fine or imprison people who made fraudulent claims under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.Singh says a bill the Liberals are proposing would hurt the very people that the CERB was designed to help — vulnerable people who have faced financial hardship because of COVID-19.He also says it was hypocritical for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take a knee on Parliament Hill during Friday's nationwide anti-racism demonstrations while such a bill was being drafted.He says th

There are 96,244 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 53,047 confirmed (including 4,984 deaths, 18,714 resolved) Ontario: 30,860 confirmed (including 2,450 deaths, 24,492 resolved) Alberta: 7,202 confirmed (including 149 deaths, 6,698 resolved) British Columbia: 2,659 confirmed (including 167 deaths, 2,309 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,059 confirmed (including 61 deaths, 999 resolved) Saskatchewan: 654 confirmed (including 13 deaths, 624 resolved) Manitoba: 289 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 284 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 d