Ontario says its plan to ease restrictions introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic will happen in three stages, though the steps unveiled today contain few specifics or timelines. Stage one in the framework published today could include opening select workplaces, opening parks, allowing for more people at certain events such as funerals and having hospitals resume some non-urgent surgeries. Stage two could include opening more businesses, more outdoor spaces, and allowing some larger public gatherings. Stage three would include having all workplaces open and further relaxing rules on publ

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is announcing elementary schools and daycares outside the greater Montreal area will reopen on May 11.Schools and daycares in greater Montreal region will reopen the next week, on May 19.He says school attendance will not be mandatory.Legault says high schools, junior colleges and universities will remain closed until September, and he is urging those institutions to do as much online teaching as possible.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says nearly 10,000 businesses have applied for the federal government's wage-subsidy program to help them deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.The emergency measure will cover 75 percent of wages for employers that have seen sharp declines in revenue since the novel coronavirus hit Canada hard in March, up to $847 per worker.Applications opened early this morning and payments can be retroactive to the middle of March.Trudeau says money under the program will start flowing by May 7.It may take longer for the money to arrive for companies that aren't signed up for direct

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is announcing a $62.5-million aid package to help the country's fish and seafood processors protect workers from COVID-19. Trudeau said today the money is earmarked for personal protective equipment and to help fish and seafood companies adapt their plants to comply with health directives. The prime minister says the funding can also help pay for other equipment such as freezers, so that companies can store food products while they adapt their factories to ensure workers can maintain a safe distance from one another. Fish and seafood are among the country's top fo

There are 43,888 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 22,616 confirmed (including 1,340 deaths, 4,724 resolved) Ontario: 13,519 confirmed (including 763 deaths, 7,087 resolved) Alberta: 4,017 confirmed (including 72 deaths, 1,397 resolved) British Columbia: 1,853 confirmed (including 98 deaths, 1,114 resolved) Nova Scotia: 850 confirmed (including 16 deaths, 392 resolved) Saskatchewan: 341 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 280 resolved) Manitoba: 252 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 174 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 256 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 199 resolv

An online vigil with recorded tributes and music honouring the 22 people who died in a tragic rampage began Friday with a fiddle performance from the massacre's youngest victim. Nova Scotia residents spent the week gathering recorded tributes from public figures, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Stephen McNeil and Governor General Julie Payette. Nova Scotia fiddler Natalie MacMaster recorded herself playing along with a video of 17 year old Emily Tuck performing the waltz ``In Memory of Herbie MacLeod,'' uploaded to Facebook a month before she was killed with her mother and fa

The Manitoba government is promising wage subsidies for businesses that hire students this summer. Premier Brian Pallister says the government will pay half of eligible wages, up to $7 per hour, to a maximum of $5,000 per student aged 15-29. Each employer can get the subsidy for a maximum of five students, and the money will be paid out after summer ends. Pallister says the subsidy should help businesses hurt by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says more than 2,000 people have died from COVID-19 and more than 643,000 tests have been administered, with over 6.5 per cent of people testing positive. Tam says she wants to recognize the work of health care workers who are going the extra mile to care for COVID-19 patients, especially those working in long-term care centres, where numerous outbreaks have caused many illnesses and deaths. She highlighted the story of Michelle, a nurse in Nova Scotia who was recently reassigned to work a nursing home and has decided live in a hotel to keep her fam

RCMP have given the all clear after investigating reports of shots fired in two Halifax suburbs. The police say they extensively searched the area and found no evidence of shots having been fired. They say they will continue to patrol the area.