Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the Liberals are easing eligibility rules for the government's emergency wage subsidy and changing the amounts businesses can receive. The government had been under pressure to make the subsidy more accessible, specifically by loosening the requirement of a 30 per cent drop in revenues, so more companies under that cut-off can qualify. Speaking in Toronto, Morneau says the rules will be changed so amounts paid out will be proportional to revenue declines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is the heart of the Liberals' promise to help Canadians get bac

Another House of Commons committee is to begin probing the aborted deal between the federal government and WE Charity to run a massive student-volunteering program. WE gave up running the $912-million program amid controversy over hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees the WE organization paid to members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's family for appearances at WE events. Conservatives on the Commons ethics committee say they'll be seeking copies of all records related to any speaking appearances involving Trudeau, his wife, his mother and his brother. According to WE, most of the fees we

There are 109,155 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 57,001 confirmed (including 5,646 deaths, 26,097 resolved) Ontario: 37,052 confirmed (including 2,732 deaths, 32,920 resolved) Alberta: 9,114 confirmed (including 165 deaths, 8,142 resolved) British Columbia: 3,170 confirmed (including 189 deaths, 2,789 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,002 resolved) Saskatchewan: 923 confirmed (including 15 deaths, 794 resolved) Manitoba: 320 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 318 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 262 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 258 resolved)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has repeated his apology for getting involved in the awarding of a 900 million dollar contract to the WE charity. He says again that he ``deeply regrets'' taking part in discussions about the contract. Trudeau is under investigation by the ethics commissioner because his mother, brother and wife have all received money from WE. At a news conference in Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland also took responsibility for her part in the affair. But she added Trudeau has her ``complete confidence'' in his leadership.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal, provincial and territorial governments have reached a deal on billions of dollars in transfers to continue reopening economies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He says the federal government will contribute $19 billion to the effort. The money is to help the lower-tier governments with needs such as funding child care, bailing out cities whose expenses have soared and revenues plunged, increasing contact-tracing capacity, and buying personal protective equipment. The pandemic is a health crisis, but Trudeau says it has a deep economic dimension. He s

The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to so-called "discretionary" travel like vacations and shopping trips since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the continent in mid-March, an agreement that had been set to expire July 21.The extension comes with COVID-19 resurgent across the U.S. — cases are on the rise in all 50 states, and southern states like Florida, Arizona and California are facing a fresh crisis with overcrowded hospital wards, refrigerated truck trailers serving as makeshift morgues and another shortage of personal protective medical gear.The escalating emergency has also expos

The first of multiple parliamentary investigations of the federal government's aborted deal with WE Charity to run a volunteering program begins this afternoon.The House of Commons finance committee is set to hear from Youth Minister Bardish Chagger and some senior public servants as it probes how WE got a sole-sourced contract to administer the $900-million program.The Canada Student Service Grant is aimed at students who haven't been able to find work this summer, offering up to $5,000 toward education costs in exchange for 500 hours of volunteering.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has admitte

There are 108,829 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 56,859 confirmed (including 5,636 deaths, 26,097 resolved) Ontario: 37,052 confirmed (including 2,732 deaths, 32,920 resolved) Alberta: 8,994 confirmed (including 163 deaths, 8,127 resolved) British Columbia: 3,149 confirmed (including 189 deaths, 2,753 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,002 resolved) Saskatchewan: 881 confirmed (including 15 deaths, 791 resolved) Manitoba: 319 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 318 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 262 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 258 resolved)

A former Canadian Football League player was sentenced Wednesday to three months in prison for hiring someone take the SATs in place of his two sons.David Sidoo, who played professional football for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and B.C. Lions, lowered his head into his hands and cried as U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton chided him for his actions. Sidoo told the judge he's "deeply ashamed.""I make no excuses. I broke the law. I pled guilty to a crime and now I must pay for my actions," Sidoo said.Sidoo appeared before the Boston federal court judges via videoconference because of the coron