The federal government is providing $50 million to help farmers and food processors cover the costs associated with mandatory quarantine rules for workers coming in from outside the country.Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says the labour shortage on farms is acute and depends on foreign temporary workers.But rules designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 mean this year's incoming workers must quarantine for 14 days.Bibeau says employers are committed to making sure workers follow those rules but they do come at a cost.She says the money is designed to help offset those and w

Health Canada has approved the use of a portable, rapid-testing device for COVID-19.The Spartan Cube from Ottawa's Spartan Bioscience is expected to help provide rapid tests for health services in rural and remote areas such as Indigenous communities.The hand-held device, about the size of a coffee cup, eliminates the need for swab samples to travel to the nearest lab, which can be a logistical challenge.The federal, Alberta and Ontario governments are among those who have contracts for the testing kits, which can confirm results in less than one hour.Ontario has ordered nearly 1 million test

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders across the country are taking a rare day off from updating the nation on the COVID-19 crisis as Canadians celebrate Easter today. Yet even as people gather with their families both physically and virtually for the holiday, the pandemic continues to cause pain and grief for many Canadians whose health and livelihoods have been devastated by the illness. The federal government is expected to release later today updated figures on the number of Canadians who have tested positive for COVID-19 as well as the number that have died from the respiratory

The RCMP says its officers could visit homes to ensure any person entering Canada is self-isolating for 14 days.The police force says it has been asked to help enforce the Quarantine Act in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.Police can also now arrest people for violating the Act, though the RCMP says that will be a last resort.Previously they could only issue a court appearance notice or summons. Failing to comply with the Quarantine Act could lead to a fine of up to $750,000 and imprisonment for six months.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's schedule is about to change as the federal government continues to avoid invoking the Emergencies Act.Trudeau will be at the House of Commons on Saturday as the government attempts to pass the wage subsidy bill.The prime minister primarily has been working from home since March 12 when his wife tested positive for COVID-19.He says he will conduct his daily televised address to the country from parliament on Sunday.Trudeau calls the wage subsidy bill the largest economic measures Canada has seen since the Second World War.The bill will allow companies to get a 75

Even with strong containment measures, as many as 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months.That's the worst-case scenario set out by federal public health officials this morning at a briefing in Ottawa.The Public Health Agency of Canada says short-term estimates are more reliable, and that up to 700 people could die by the end of next week.Officials warn that if people don't obey social distancing and self-isolation rules, the death toll could be much higher.Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says ``we cannot prevent every death but we must prevent every death that

WestJet says it plans to bring back nearly 6,400 employees on to its payroll with the help of Ottawa's emergency wage subsidy program.WestJet chief executive Ed Sims made the announcement in a video posted to Twitter.He says employees will be back on the company payroll once the federal government has approved the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program.Air Canada made a similar announcement on Wednesday that it would use the program to bring back about 16,500 employees.Sims says it doesn't mean all the employees will be automatically coming back to work because there might not be work for them

There are 19,291 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 10,031 confirmed (including 175 deaths, 827 resolved) Ontario: 5,276 confirmed (including 174 deaths, 2,074 resolved) Alberta: 1,423 confirmed (including 29 deaths, 519 resolved) British Columbia: 1,336 confirmed (including 48 deaths, 838 resolved) Nova Scotia: 342 confirmed (including 1 death, 77 resolved) Saskatchewan: 271 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 88 resolved) Newfoundland and Labrador: 232 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 74 resolved) Manitoba: 206 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 69 resolved), 15 presumptive Ne

Canada's deputy minister of foreign affairs has tested positive for COVID-19. Marta Morgan has been the top official in the department for just under a year, after leading the Immigration Department, and is the first woman to hold the job. Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne shared the diagnosis on Twitter. He wished Morgan a full and speedy recovery and called her an invaluable part of the foreign-affairs team. Several ministers and MPs have isolated themselves out of concern that they have the respiratory illness but Morgan is the most senior Canadian government figure to test positive. Cha